IPL 2020: Mumbai Indians' head coach Mahela Jayawardene believes table-toppers still need improvement

Abu Dhabi: Perched at the top of the points table they might be but Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene says there are several aspects of the game that his team needs to improve as it guns for a second consecutive IPL title. Mumbai recorded their third consecutive win, beating Rajasthan Royals by 57 runs on Tuesday. They have so far accumulated four wins and two losses from six matches overall. “Right now we have played some consistent cricket, and executing a lot of the skills really well with the ball and bat. So, things are going well but we can still improve, there are certain areas but make sure that everyone is focused on each and every day,” Jayawardene said in a video posted by the team’s official Twitter handle.

📹 | Coach Mahela Jayawardene was pleased with the team's performance last night 👌#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #MI #Dream11IPL #MIvRR @MahelaJay pic.twitter.com/y6YjGVbAG7

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) October 7, 2020

He, however, did not specify the areas which require improvement. On Tuesday, handing the new ball to pace spearheaded Jasprit Bumrah worked wonders as Mumbai bundled out RR for 136 after putting 193/4 on the board. “We had a few plans, there was a different strategy in this game, using Boom (Bumrah) upfront as well. There was a little bit of movement off the wicket, which we saw when we were batting and we thought we will exploit that,” Jayawardene said. “(Trent) Boult and Bumrah were exceptional with the new ball. Jimmy (James Pattinson) came and bowled in some good areas and the spinners were very good, so I thought it was a clinical performance, and I’m quite happy,” added the Sri Lankan batting great. He said that Suryakumar Yadav (79) played a responsible knock and the Mumbai batsman was upset with himself after getting dismissed in earlier games. “He was a bit unfortunate in the first two games, a couple of run-outs and a couple of soft dismissals, he was a bit down and upset with himself, because knowing what he is capable of,” said Jayawardene. “He just batted beautifully and I think he paced his innings really well, especially after Rohit (Sharma) fell, he took a bit more responsibility, as a senior and experienced player, batted through the innings which helped us to get to that big score (and get), those extra 20/30 runs,” the head coach added. According to Jayawardene, it was good to go into the break with three consecutive wins. “We had a tough week where we had three back to back games, so we get a bit of a break now, so it is good to go into the break with three consecutive wins,” he signed off. Mumbai now play on Sunday next when they take on in-form Delhi Capitals in an evening game.