Rohit, who has featured in only four matches this season, batted at the nets in Chennai on Friday after missing the last four games due to a hamstring injury. \u201cIt\u2019s progressed well. He\u2019s working really hard to get back at it. For us, with the medical team, it\u2019s on a daily basis.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cWe see how he feels, how he pulls up the next day. So we\u2019ll make a decision. We\u2019ll see him practising today as well. So let\u2019s see how he feels tomorrow and what the medical team will tell us,\u201d Jayawardene said in the pre-match press conference.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Mumbai Indians\u2019 campaign hasn\u2019t been a rip-roaring one, with just two wins from eight matches, leaving the five-time champions ninth on the points table. Every game from here is effectively a must-win for MI to stay in contention for the playoffs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the time for us to experiment. We\u2019ve had issues with our injuries, and the availability of players and all that. We\u2019ve already played, I think, 20 players in the season. So we\u2019ve not done that for many years.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cOur maximum has been 16, even with the impact, where we\u2019ve had 16 or 17 was our maximum. So due to those circumstances, we\u2019ve gone deeper into the bench.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThese are quality players as well, especially our foreigners, who have been good quality options. So we kept on changing combinations to suit that as well. But for us, it\u2019s about trusting that process of correcting and playing good cricket,\u201d elaborated Jayawardene.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Despite posting big totals, MI have failed to close out games with the ball, with Jayawardene pointing out that inconsistency has been their biggest issue. \u201cI think it\u2019s just that we haven\u2019t been consistent enough in phases where we must be competitive in those phases, and we\u2019ve lost our way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s something that we keep saying, \u2018let\u2019s get this done.\u2019. Sometimes you get that done, and then there\u2019s some other phase that fails us. So it\u2019s a catch-22 for everyone, and you just keep fighting and trusting the processes, skill, and players who've given us success, and then keep fighting. I mean, that\u2019s what we need to do, and that\u2019s what we will do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
On Suryakumar Yadav\u2019s poor form, who has amassed 162 runs in eight matches, Jayawardene said the right-hander is doing everything he can to rediscover his scoring ways. \u201cWe've had this conversation. Like, if you look at him batting in the middle, there are two things. Practice, he's batting as well as anybody. I'm sure he was like that.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cEven when you go into the matches as well, he's hitting the ball well. But the way he's gotten off a few times, it's unfortunate. Like, he hits a shot, gets caught in the boundary line. A couple of times, okay, he had some good balls that came his way, got out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
On Suryakumar Yadav\u2019s poor form, who has amassed 162 runs in eight matches, Jayawardene said the right-hander is doing everything he can to rediscover his scoring ways. \u201cWe've had this conversation. Like, if you look at him batting in the middle, there are two things. Practice, he's batting as well as anybody. I'm sure he was like that.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"How he sees, how he plays, we keep encouraging him. Sometimes, I mean, if you look at Surya for us, he had three to four brilliant years, and not just last year. So, sometimes people are human. They will have a little run that doesn't go his way. But he knows that, and he'll come up with a smile and play the same way he knows how to play,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\r\n\r\n