Allah Ghazanfar, a young Afghan mystery spinner, was supported by Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jaywardene on Friday. Jayawardene claimed that having an X-factor bowler like Ghazanfar in the side offers the team an advantage in all circumstances.
After giving up 51 runs in Mumbai’s season-opening match against Kolkata Knight Riders, the 20-year-old came under fire.
“I think he is one for the future. We feel that with his height what we see what he can do. He will improve. He needs more game time obviously leading up to that. He was supposed to play against Sri Lanka but that tournament got cancelled. So I am not worried. I think he bowled well. He had 4-5 bad deliveries in that entire match which got him,” PTI quoted Jayawardene as saying ahead of MI’s match against Delhi Capitals.
Mayank Markande, Will Jacks, and Mitchell Santner are also in MI bowling ranks.
“To have that X-factor bowler within our group. Among guys like Mitch, Jacks, Mayank. Just gives us a different option in different conditions. Maybe later in the tournament. But definitely we feel that he is a great asset to have.”
Although the five-time champions haven’t taken home the trophy since 2020, Jayawardene maintains that the team has remained consistent.
“10 teams make it even harder competition. But I think in the last 5 years, we were in the playoffs 2 or 3 times, if I am not mistaken. So that means we had our opportunities and it was just that last bit. In a competition like this, you have to take one game at a time and go through the process. As a team, we know that we have done well consistently over a period of time,” Jayawardene said.
The Sri Lankan stated that Ryan Rickleton, who has forged a successful partnership with Rohit Sharma at the top, will continue to be selected ahead of Quinton de Kock.
“When we bought him we knew his potential, we had him in SA20 team as well. And when he and Ro had a good combination last year there was no intention of changing it. When we saw Quinny at the auction, it was an opportunity for us. We saw him as an overseas back up because Indian wicket keeper went for crazy prices. And he fit brilliantly. We never thought that we will change the combo. We didn’t want to change something that was not broken,” he added.
