Although Steven Smith (39) was awarded the man of the match in Pune Warriors India's 28-run thumping win over Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League opener at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday, it was Ashok Dinda who put his team in the reckoning with his four for 18.
Pune had their backs to the wall after they were restricted to 129-9 by Mumbai Indians. Their batting looked completely hapless and one could gauge from the fact that they scored their first six of the innings in the last ball of the 17th over.u00a0
Ashok Dinda. Pic/Suresh KK
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However, the team looked completely motivated when they began their pursuit to defend the total. MI finished on 101-9 in 20 overs.u00a0Dinda got the wickets Ambati Rayudu (1) and Rohit Sharma (1) in the second over and later returned to remove dangerous James Franklin (32) and Mumbai Indians skipper Harbhajan Singh (16).
Dinda remembered skipper Sourav Ganguly’s words of wisdom. “He just told me to believe in myself that I can win this match. Only way we could have won this match was by taking early wickets.
It is never easy to defend such a small total in T20s and we are glad to have done it,” Dinda told MiD DAY yesterday. u00a0It was one of my best performances. I was only concentrating on bowling a good line and length. I knew I had to fire if we were to win this match,” added the India pacer.
Dinda credited Ganguly for showing confidence in him. “I have a great rapport with Dada. Probably, he knows more about me than I know of myself. That is why I just had trust in him.
He gives me right advice and it always works. He knows my strengths and guides me accordingly. He has seen me since my childhood days and that is why the chemistry is so well,” said Dinda.
Dinda felt his recent stint with Team India in the one-off T20 international against South Africa before the IPL also helped. “It is always a good experience to be part of the Indian team. You get to learn a lot sharing the dressing room with senior players. It keeps you motivated,” Dinda signed off.u00a0
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