“Pressure grew when he took it upon himself to get that big over off Rabada” - Manjrekar on Suryakumar Yadav’s tactical error in MI vs PBKS IPL 2022 match

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar reckons that Suryakumar Yadav made a slight tactical miscalculation when he tried to take on Kagiso Rabada instead of waiting for Odean Smith’s over in the IPL 2022 clash between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Punjab Kings (PBKS).

Mumbai continued their losing streak in the tournament, going down to PBKS by 12 runs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Wednesday. Chasing 199, the five-time champions ended on 186 for nine.

Reviewing the game, Manjrekar praised Suryakumar for getting the IPL team close again. He, however, felt that the right-handed batter’s decision to take on Rabada in the 19th over was a somewhat erroneous one. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, he said:

“Suryakumar made a slight error, I thought. With Rabada bowling and with Jaydev Unadkat at the other end, him wanting to take strike at that moment, he could perhaps have said - Rabada is a difficult one to get away. If I have to retain strike for all six balls, let it be against Odean Smith. The pressure grew when he took it upon himself to get that big over off Rabada.”

Suryakumar was dismissed by the South African pacer for 43 off 30 as he mistimed a big hit to long-on.

According to Manjrekar, though, it was Tilak Varma’s run out earlier in the game that was a "massive moment" in the match. He said:

“Tilak Varma’s run out a massive moment in the game. The advantage that Dewald Brevis (49 off 25) gave with that 29-run over, it suddenly became very manageable. Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav (were having a) great partnership. It was there for them to just stroll through with the comfort factor of Pollard being there. Run out at that stage was a gift, and then to make it worse was Pollard getting run out.”

Varma was run out for 36 following a horrible mix-up with Suryakumar, while Pollard was also out in the same fashion a few overs later. Mumbai lost their way after the two dismissals and ultimately fell short of the target.

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“The boys are a little bit flat” - Chris Lynn feels there’s some panic in MI camp

According to Australian batter Chris Lynn, the Mumbai players, in particular, some of the seniors are looking a little bit flat. He stated that the losing streak seems to have set some panic in the camp as well. Sharing his views on Mumbai’s loss to Punjab, he said:

“They are well prepared normally off the field. Usually, they take that on the field by instinct. But I just feel they are behind the eight ball and that’s through a little bit of panic. The boys are a little bit flat and thus are a little bit reactive. Rohit Sharma is also doing that. Even though he got a few runs, the first couple of shots that he played wasn’t really Rohit Sharma of old when was scoring runs.”

Rohit made a quickfire 28 with three fours and two sixes before falling to Rabada. The MI skipper has only managed 108 runs from five matches in IPL 2022.