Back-to-back losses put players under pressure: Mohammad Kaif

We knew this was going to happen after having a good start. Injuries to Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra forced us to give opportunities to new domestic players.

Hyderabad: Delhi Capitals suffered their fourth straight loss, going down to Mumbai Indians by nine wickets on Saturday, to complicate their chances of a play-offs berth. Capital’s batting came a cropper against a disciplined MI attack to manage just 110/9 in 20 overs which the Kieron Pollard-led side chased down with nine wickets in hand.

Speaking after the loss, Capitals’ assistant coach Mohammad Kaif said the fourth straight loss did hurt the players and put them under a bit of pressure. “We knew this was going to happen after having a good start. Injuries to Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra forced us to give opportunities to new domestic players. We don’t have much time to think and we have to win the next match against RCB. Players are feeling a bit of pressure and that is going to happen after losing back to back matches. We are trying to keep the team together,” he said.

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He also sounded confident that they have match-winners in the side. “Players like (Rishabh) Pant, (Shreyas) Iyer and (Marcus) Stoinis are match-winners. We did change the team a bit but we kept the core team intact. Losing form can happen to anyone. We are backing our players and expect them to bounce back stronger against RCB in the final match,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians, with their ninth win, were assured of a top-two finish. Speaking after the victory, spinner Jayant Yadav, who played his first match of the tournament, said they want to continue the good run as the league is reaching the fag end. “We just want to keep on doing simple things right. It is an ongoing process. We would like to continue whatever we are doing till now going into the fag end of the tournament,” he said.

On bowling in powerplay, he said, “Since it was a day game, the wicket will become drier. The plan was to extract spin with the hard ball. Krunal (Pandya) said it was stopping a bit. So the captain wanted me to bowl in the powerplay. The plan was to contain the batsman from scoring runs. I am really happy to play a game for MI. I am always trying to have an impact whenever I get a chance to play.”

He also lauded pacers Trent Boult (3/21) and Jasprit Bumrah (3/17) who ran through the Capitals’ batting order. “Boult is a world class bowler, especially with the new ball. We have seen that throughout the tournament. I think he is the highest wicket-taker in powerplay. And the way Bumrah bowls, he has that impact whenever he bowls. To bowl like that on this wicket shows his character. He made the ball do the talking,” he said.

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