Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond: ‘We’re not executing what we need to’

Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond praised Arjun Tendulkar for coming back from being whacked around the park against Punjab Kings to conceding just 9 runs against Gujarat Titans.

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Against PBKS, Tendulkar was smashed for 48 runs, including 31 runs in an over. It was the most runs conceded in a single over this IPL season and joint-most by a Mumbai Indians bowler.

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On Tuesday, he bowled well to go for just nine runs from two overs. “He did well today, obviously after what happened in the last game. It’s never easy to step out onto the ground that is a Colosseum with a big crowd. We will work on increasing his pace, but he did all that was asked of him today,” said Bond on Tendulkar whose pace currently hovers around 130kmph.

Tendulkar made his IPL debut last week, against the Kolkata Knight Riders, and picked up his first wicket against the Sunrisers Hyderabad two days later. Against SRH, he also bowled the final over to seal the win.

Arjun might be in the limelight but Mumbai Indians are struggling this season. MI started IPL 2023 with consecutive defeats but roared back with three wins in a row. That momentum was arrested and they’ve now once again lost two straight games.

On Tuesday, MI lost by 55 runs while trying to chase down a 208 run target.

“It’s a combination of things. We’re not executing what we need to. We’ve got pretty simple plans. Watch how we bowled in an area. We got hit and immediately resorted to some changes.

“It’s disappointing when we can’t distinguish plans when we are on the back foot during difficult run chases,” Bond said.

“Like in the last game, I think it was 100/4, and then we just dished up freebies. We gave (David) Miller and (Abhinav) Manohar free hits, and once we gave players to get in runs, they took the game away from us.

“And that’s the disappointing thing from our point of view. So we just have to be better in our decision-making and our execution. In short, it was a tough day for us,” he added.

Bond said GT’s captain Hardik Pandya, seamer Mohammed Shami and spinner Rashid Khan used the conditions in Ahmedabad to their advantage while bowling.

“When you chase 208, the only plan is to keep going. We tried to ride the storm as the ball swung differently. Look at the way Hardik and Mohammed Shami bowled, not giving us free balls to hit.

“We had to try to manufacture something. Thus, the score at the end of the powerplay reflected how they bowled on a wicket, which they did the same to RR,” he said.

“The first six overs were tough for both teams, as it would get difficult for the bowling team because of the dew factor. We were trying to stop the damage to our run rate, which has taken another big hit tonight.”

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