Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer has asked his players to play their game as freely as they can and assuring them that it is his job to take the pressure, said Nehal Wadhera ahead of their IPL match against Mumbai Indians on Thursday.
“Only yesterday, I was having a chat with him and he told me, ‘tu khel bindaas, pressure lena mera kaam hai’ (you play freely, it’s my job to take the pressure),” Wadhera told reporters ahead of Punjab’s training session.
“This tells a lot about him as a captain. He enjoys the pressure, that’s why you can see it in his performance (and) in his batting.”
“I think it’s a big thing for a captain to say this to his player. I felt really good after listening to this, that ‘you play your own game, don’t worry about the results, I am here to take the pressure, and I will get the team across the line’,” he added.
Wadhera said with Ricky Ponting as their head coach also makes a huge difference as the former Australia captain has a positive impact on the players.
“He just speaks positively. He doesn’t have any negative words in his dictionary. (He talks about) how to make runs, where to hit a bowler… no batter has the fear of being dismissed in his team,” he said.
“He tells us to play freely and that we will back you (the players), and (it is) not just him, even Shreyas Iyer has a big hand in this.”
Wadhera said Ponting’s presence at the practice sessions is also full of important exchanges between players and the head coach.
“Everything is available to us. If we want to go to practice early, he is always there available for us, standing there at the nets.”
“If you would have noticed, he never sits down. He would stand nearby, analyse every shot and tell us what we could have done better. If someone gets out, he never discourages anyone. He will just say, ‘next time I want this ball out of the ground’. I don’t think I have ever worked with such a coach.”
Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians’ Naman Dhir admitted that not picking up wickets in the powerplay has been a concern, but he backed the team’s bowlers to bounce back.
So far, MI have taken just three wickets in the powerplay across four matches. This includes a rain-affected game against Rajasthan Royals, where the powerplay was shortened to just 3.2 overs per side.
“Yes, it is a small concern but (Trent) Boult, (Jasprit) Bumrah, and Deepak Chahar are all good quality bowlers. They can run away (with the game) any time and win the match for us,” Dhir said.
With Rohit Sharma in doubt for the contest on Thursday, Dhir said he is ready to bat at any position.
“I am ready for any batting order. Even last year, I batted at No. 5 so I am ready,” he said.
