Tags:
Journalism of Courage
As emotions ran high in the match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals yesterday, two young players remained calm and got the better of their two experienced counterparts. Needing two runs to win off the last ball, Niraj Patel and Ravindra Jadeja, both yet to play an international match, successfully scrambled through for a couple where none existed, as Sanath Jayasuriya and Dilhara Fernando made a mockery of their experience as they lost their nerves.
8220;That8217;s T20. It8217;s a suspense thriller. Two experienced veterans were undone by two young guys. In this format, whoever can keep the nerves cool and handle the pressure better will win,8221; said Mumbai Indians coach Lalchand Rajput today, ahead of his team8217;s match against Bangalore that has lost its significance with Mumbai knocked out of the semi-final race.
With the victories, they had emerged as one of the tournament favourites. But that was followed by a string of successive losses that them in a spot of bother. 8220;We could not come out of critical moments of the game. Our opponents handled the crunch situations better,8221; said Rajput.
The beginning of their second run of losses coincided with the departure of Dwayne Bravo, who played a pivotal role with his all-round performance 178 runs at an average of almost 30 and 11 wickets 8220;Bravo was a terrific all-rounder. Batting, bowling, fielding, he was always there. We lost three close matches which could have gone any way,8221; said Rajput.
But Rajput said Mumbai had gained a lot from the first edition of IPL. 8220;Youngsters were thrown into the middle and they grabbed the opportunity. Abhishek Nayar, Yogesh Takawale, Dhaval Kulkarni, Rohan Raje have come into the limelight because of IPl. Nobody knew them. It8217;s a big gain.
8220;T20 is very unpredictable. But over a period of time, it will evolve its own formula. It will find its own language and grammar,8221; said Rajput.
