'MI focused on 40 overs of quality cricket, not the points table': Mhambrey
Kolkata, May 21
Mumbai Indians bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said the side remains focused on playing quality 40 overs of cricket and learning from mistakes after suffering a four-wicket loss to Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens.
Mumbai Indians, who had already been eliminated from the playoff race before the match, slumped to their ninth defeat in 13 matches this season and remained ninth on the points table with eight points.
Reflecting on the campaign, Mhambrey said the team's focus throughout the tournament had been on finding ways to win matches and improving as a unit.
"Our preparation is simple: look at winning the games. That's what we've been doing," Mhambrey said said in a post-match presser. The focus on this game, as well as earlier games, is winning. And we want to look back and say: how do you work around constructing a team, what are the things that we need to learn from this game and take it to the next game, which allows us to win a game?"
Mhambrey believes that while outside results and points-table changes often create discussions, the team's priority remained executing its plans properly on the field.
"We can only control what we can control, and what we can control is going out there and playing quality 40 overs of cricket and winning the game, and leave the results or the positions in the table for someone else to look into," headed.
Mumbai's fielding errors also proved costly during the chase, including a dropped catch of Rovman Powell. However, Mhambrey defended his players and said such mistakes are part of the game.
"No one does it on purpose. You drop catches. It just happens, part of the game. Yes, if you look at it in hindsight and say that catch at that stage would have been 15 or 20 runs extra, yeah. But I'm not going to blame anyone out here."
The bowling coach instead praised Corbin Bosch for his outstanding effort in the field later in the innings, where he dismissed Powell with a diving catch at backward point.
"If you look at Corbin, he took a brilliant catch. So you compensate it for that, right?" Mhambrey said.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Look, I appreciate the positive mindset of "focus on 40 overs of quality cricket," but when you've lost 9 out of 13 matches, there are deeper issues. The team selection has been baffling all season—playing too many overseas batters and weakening the bowling. Mhambrey's statement is corporate talk, plain and simple. 😒
As an overseas MI fan, this is painful to watch. The franchise that once set the standard for IPL excellence now looks lost. Mhambrey is right that you can't control results once you're off the field, but you can control team composition. The dropped catches are symptomatic of a team that lost confidence early. Tough season. 😔
Mhambrey should also look at the batting approach. Rohit has been struggling, and Surya, for all his brilliance, can't win games alone. MI needs to invest in Indian domestic talent for the middle order, not just rely on overseas stars. The points table doesn't lie—this team needs a major overhaul. 😕
I appreciate the stoic attitude from Mhambrey, but "learning from mistakes" only works if you actually address them. MI's bowling attack has been one-dimensional all season, and the fielding has been below par. Corbin Bosch's catch was brilliant, but that doesn't excuse the consistent errors. The franchise needs a serious reevaluation. 😤
What I admire is that Mhambrey isn't throwing anyone under the bus. Yes, the season was disastrous, but the way he defends his players shows good
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