Credit: IPL
Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mahela Jayawardene has revealed the secret of his team’s success in high-pressure matches. In the Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator at the New PCA Stadium on May 30, Mumbai held their nerves in the high-scoring game and defended 228 runs successfully to bag a convincing 20-run win. Rohit Sharma utilised his experience in the big game and shone with his bat. The 38-year-old smashed 81 off 50 and became the Player of the Match (POTM) for his sensational performance. After the game, when Jayawardene held a conversation with the media and talked about the excellent team culture that helps Mumbai to cross the crunch situations successfully.
“Well, when you have a winning culture, it is easier to try and have that same thing going through. Even when you get a new group, we still have a very experienced co-group within our ranks. So, the conversations that we have, planning and everything is about, how can we get better, how can we push through,” said Jaywardene after the game about how MI finds a way from difficult situations time and again, which has helped them to win the IPL title five times.
He also added, “That winning mentality itself comes through from those senior players and having that experience, guys who have won trophies does help and my job is to try and cultivate that for the new guys who are coming into the spot. After the big auction, we had quite a few new faces, but I think telling them about the history of Mumbai and how we go, how we operate and have that attitude that we will never die from a situation, we will always fight through. So, I think that is shown today.”
MI to take on PBKS in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2025
MI's next challenge is against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on June 1. Punjab will enter the game after their crushing eight-wicket defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Qualifier 1. Things won’t be easy for Kings against Mumbai, who are emboldened after their scintillating success against Gujarat.
Both Mumbai and Punjab have played 33 games against each other with the former winning 17 games while the latter emerging victorious on 16 occasions. In their last five encounters, PBKS have an upper hand with three wins.
