High hopes for next year

30th May 2008

The Mumbai Indians saw their bittersweet DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) journey come to an end with a 9-wicket victory over the Bangalore Royal Challengers on Wednesday. Their coach Lalchand Rajput, who does not seem to take losing too kindly, accepted their exit from the tournament with a heavy heart and elaborated on the great opportunity the IPL has provided to the youngsters in his squad.

The Mumbai Indians had a bad start to the tournament losing their first four matches. Then they came back to win their next six games on the trot. But it was their four defeats that subsequently ended in nail-biting finishes that edged them out of the semi-finals which will be played at their home venue.

Rajput took out the positives from the tournament saying, "The IPL has given a lot of youngsters a platform to play along with senior players, to share the dressing room and to get to know their experience. This will help them become better cricketers."

He admitted to starting off shakily in the tournament but said that his side came back with six wins as there was always someone who stood up and accounted responsibility to ensure the side wins.

Rajput, who was the team manager when India lifted the ICC World Twenty20 cup, said that having senior players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya and Shaun Pollock helped his team a lot as the juniors only looked up to them and gained valuable experience from playing with these stalwarts.

He gave due credit to all his other players saying that in the absence of Tendulkar and Pollock (who missed a few games due to injury), they all played when it mattered the most and that pleased Rajput.

"Manish Pandey and Yogesh Takawale' were players that Rajput felt had grown throughout the tournament. He added that players like these will only become better cricketers when they return next year.

He ended of with a word of promise saying, "It's just the beginning of the tournament. In the years to come, we'll see Mumbai raring to go."