IPL 2022 | If the bowlers stick to their plans, they can script a turnaround for Mumbai Indians, says Shane Bond

04/08/2022

Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond has said that if the bowlers stick to their plans, they can produce a turnaround for the team in IPL 2022. MI are one of the three teams in the tournament who are yet to register their first win losing all of their three matches in the tournament so far.

Mumbai Indians had a poor campaign in the IPL 2022 losing all of the three matches they played so far. One of the dominant teams in the history of IPL has been going through a slump and their bowling has been under scrutiny for that. Jasprit Bumrah is taking wickets for the team after having a poor first match but no other bowler seems to make an impact like him.

Their latest loss came against Kolkata Knight Riders where Pat Cummins turned the game in his team’s favour with a terrific knock. Reflecting on their performance in the season so far, Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond is of the belief that the bowlers can script a turn-around if they stick to their plans.

"It's a simple fix really. If we can stick to our plans and stick to the areas we want to bowl when the pressure is on, then I think you'll see a turnaround," Bond said in a note shared by MI on the eve of their game against RCB.

MI set a target of 162 for KKR to chase in the last match. They also dismissed Andre Russell early in the innings on 11. Venkatesh Iyer scored unbeaten 50 runs from 41 balls. The match would have been a thriller but the knock from Cummins of 56 runs from 15 balls change the game.

Bond said that the bowlers bowled really well in the last match against Russell and Venkatesh Iyer.

"As I said, I think we've seen that when we've executed our plans the way that we wanted to, we've been really successful. We saw it in the last game against Andre Russell," he stated.

"Venkatesh Iyer, we made him work really hard for a fifty and bowled really well to him. We've just had one player who's come out in each game and hit 30-plus off sort of 10-11 balls which has taken the game away from us.”

Bond also stated that the bowlers have unable to stick to their plans in the back end of the innings in pressure situations and that will be the biggest challenge for them.

"So the message really from me is to go back to what are we trying to do against a certain type of player? If we execute those plans, then we make it as hard as we possibly can,” he explained.

"The challenge for us is to do that when the pressure is on at the back end of the game, which we haven't done so far.”