MI pacer rues the missed chance but feels great about his bowling form
Cricket is a game of innovation as much as it is of tradition and class. You need to keep growing; stagnation will lead to the opposition cracking the code to break you and defeat you. However, there are some weapons that never go blunt. One of them is the perfect yorker. Lasith Malinga will testify.
The Sri Lankan slinger has been crushing toes at the international level since 2004, and even the best batsmen still fall victim to his pin-point accuracy. In the very first match of Pepsi IPL 2014, the Mumbai Indians pacer weaved his magic by returning 4-0-23-4 against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Even though MI were beaten hook, line and sinker by 41 runs, Malinga sounded a warning to all IPL teams for their forthcoming battle with the Mumbai-based team.
After the match, Malinga spoke with mixed feelings. While he was pleased with his own form and mental frame of mind, he rued dropping the catch that cost MI the match. As he expressed satisfaction of beginning the season with a bang personally, he hoped that MI learn from this loss and get stronger.
Here are excerpts from his exclusive post-match interview with iplt20com:
Good to be back in business right from game-one?
Yes, I bowled well today and it was good to be among wickets straight away. We lost as a team, which is disappointing, but this was just the first game and the team is confident we will gain momentum as we go forward into the tournament. We will treat this match as a learning experience and improve upon the various aspects going forward.
Personally, are you carrying the confidence of the recent World T20 win?
Yes, it was wonderful to be part of the winning Sri Lankan team. The T20 format is very tough on the bowlers, but I am really feeling good about my bowling at the moment. I am in a good mental space and am bowling well.
Gautam Gambhir is one of the very few players in the world who play you well. Was it particularly satisfying to get him out on a duck with a perfect yorker?
Yes, it was. But that was my job. It is very crucial to get a breakthrough in the first six overs. I did that today, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.
In the hindsight, do you think you give away 30 runs too many?
Yes, we did. We bowled really well in the first 10 overs, but let them off the hook after that. We let Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey build a very large partnership and then they had a couple of really big overs. What really cost us the game was the catch I dropped of Kallis when he was on 34.
The Sri Lankan slinger has been crushing toes at the international level since 2004, and even the best batsmen still fall victim to his pin-point accuracy. In the very first match of Pepsi IPL 2014, the Mumbai Indians pacer weaved his magic by returning 4-0-23-4 against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Even though MI were beaten hook, line and sinker by 41 runs, Malinga sounded a warning to all IPL teams for their forthcoming battle with the Mumbai-based team.
After the match, Malinga spoke with mixed feelings. While he was pleased with his own form and mental frame of mind, he rued dropping the catch that cost MI the match. As he expressed satisfaction of beginning the season with a bang personally, he hoped that MI learn from this loss and get stronger.
Here are excerpts from his exclusive post-match interview with iplt20com:
Good to be back in business right from game-one?
Yes, I bowled well today and it was good to be among wickets straight away. We lost as a team, which is disappointing, but this was just the first game and the team is confident we will gain momentum as we go forward into the tournament. We will treat this match as a learning experience and improve upon the various aspects going forward.
Personally, are you carrying the confidence of the recent World T20 win?
Yes, it was wonderful to be part of the winning Sri Lankan team. The T20 format is very tough on the bowlers, but I am really feeling good about my bowling at the moment. I am in a good mental space and am bowling well.
Gautam Gambhir is one of the very few players in the world who play you well. Was it particularly satisfying to get him out on a duck with a perfect yorker?
Yes, it was. But that was my job. It is very crucial to get a breakthrough in the first six overs. I did that today, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.
In the hindsight, do you think you give away 30 runs too many?
Yes, we did. We bowled really well in the first 10 overs, but let them off the hook after that. We let Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey build a very large partnership and then they had a couple of really big overs. What really cost us the game was the catch I dropped of Kallis when he was on 34.
No comments:
Post a Comment