Mumbai Indians coach Mark Boucher said following his team's elimination from the IPL that the absence of fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer to injuries left a hole that was challenging to replace.
The five-time champions, who last won the T20 competition in 2020, lost to the defending champion Gujarat Titans in the game's final playoff on Friday.
Mumbai's bowlers were victimised by Shubman Gill's 60-ball 129 that helped Gujarat to 233-3 on a batting-friendly Ahmedabad ground.In his debut season with Mumbai, South African Boucher claimed that the replacement players gave it their all but were still ineligible for the championship game.
After his team's 62-run thrashing, Boucher told reporters, "If you are losing out on your quality players, yes it's going to leave a hole." Not to assign blame, but those incidents and injuries occur in sports, so you have to cope with them. He saud: “I thought that the guys that we brought in, they did their best in a situation where they probably weren’t selected upfront.”
The team, led by Rohit Sharma, was aware that Bumrah, a specialist in yorkers who underwent lower-back surgery in March and has been sidelined since September of last year, would miss the season.
But when England's Archer, who was recovering from an elbow injury, went for home after only five matches, to be replaced by fellow countryman Chris Jordan, the squad suffered a significant blow. Although the speedster wasn't available for the entire season, Mumbai still paid $1.06 million for Archer in the previous year's auction.
When he was playing, Boucher was regarded as one of the top wicketkeepers in the world, and he suggested Mumbai may eventually need to replace members of the players. "I hope the guys can recover from their wounds. If they can't, then we must seek elsewhere, Boucher added. However, he refrained from mentioning specific individuals. There are so many topics we may discuss, but he objected that it would be foolish of him to do so at this time.
Once things have settled down and we have a better understanding of the future of some players and where they stand in terms of fitness, I believe it's time to just take a step back, reflect, and make some good, sensible cricketing judgements.
Mumbai won the competition under Rohit in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020, although after their last victory, they had two unsuccessful seasons, including finishing last year's 10-team tournament in last place.
Cameron Green, an Australian all-rounder, was the second-most expensive purchase in tournament history when he was acquired for $2.11 million during the auction. Mumbai made it to the final four after a tumultuous group stage, and then destroyed Lucknow Super Giants in a knockout game.
The playoffs are a good accomplishment, according to Boucher. "Obviously disappointed with tonight's outcome, but I thought we fought honestly and valiantly all the way through." It "can go either way" how the Twenty20 event turns out, he continued. Therefore, it's a demanding battle.
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