He kept his cool at the end, so kudos to him. We batted well, but they (PBKS) scored too many runs, which was disappointing given that we controlled half of the game. We let it slip towards the end of our bowling innings, Boucher said after PBKS’ victory, which was aided by Arshdeep Singh’s four-wicket haul.
It was great to see Surya get some runs. It always looks spectacular when he does it this way. Form is a strange thing; you sometimes judge it by the numbers. He’s been doing a fantastic job in the nets. It was only a matter of time before it turned into runs, he explained.
Boucher said it’s frustrating when a team concedes 100-plus runs in the final five overs, and that’s why Mumbai Indians lost on Saturday night. We were in command until the 15th over, when they scored 96 runs in the final five overs. That’s some power.
We got it wrong, which is frustrating because we dominated and when we lost, we lost big. We can pinpoint why we lost. The South African backed Arjun Tendulkar, who scored 31 runs in PBKS’ 15th over. Arjun was the most expensive MI bowler, conceding 48 runs in three overs at a rate of 16 runs per over.
I believe Rohit, a very experienced cricketer, believed he would bowl Arjun in the 14th-15th over. At that point in the game, that was a better match-up. They (decisions) sometimes go your way, and sometimes they don’t. Unfortunately, it did not go his way, and in retrospect, sometimes the match-ups do not work, which is just the nature of T20 cricket, he explained.
It will be difficult for him (Arjun) to come in at the back end at Wankhede, where the conditions were ideal for batting. He may have gotten one or two deliveries wrong, and he was probably under pressure, but he will live and learn from it. It’s not the end of the world; it’s still not early days in the IPL, but it’s midday, and hopefully he’ll come back stronger. He has the full support of the coaching staff and players to get over this as soon as possible, Boucher added.
The MI coach expressed his delight at Jofra Archer’s return. Jof bowled with good pace; he wanted to bowl a couple of yorkers, but the wicket was good for batting. We’ll take it for his first outing (after a brief hiatus). I hope he doesn’t feel any pain tomorrow, he said.
Despite Arshdeep Singh (4/29) landing a decisive blow to dismiss Suryakumar, Punjab Kings wicketkeeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma said his team was aware that MI’s long batting line-up posed a threat.
In T20 cricket, every wicket counts. Ishan Kishan’s wicket was crucial, as was Rohit Sharma’s. Surya’s wicket was also crucial at the time, but we knew Tim David and the line-up, as well as the buffer of having one extra batter as an impact player, could go all out. We couldn’t have become complacent or relaxed after Surya left, he explained.
Jitesh also mentioned that PBKS regular captain Shikhar Dhawan is close to returning. Shikhar bhai is almost there; I believe we’ll see him soon, he explained.
