It would was hard to digest the treatment Ashok Dinda got from Mumbai Indians batsmen on Saturday at the Wankhede Stadium.
The India pacer was the star of the match when Pune Warriors India beat Mumbai Indians the last time they met at the same venue on April 6, 2012. Dinda bowled a dream spell of four for 18 in his four overs to restrict Mumbai to 101-9 while chasing Pune’s 129-9.
Ashok Dinda, who equalled IPL’s worst bowling figures ever (0-63)
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On Saturday, Dinda had one of his worst days in the tournament as the pacer was hammered for 63 runs in his four overs, equalling the worst bowling figures (Varun Aaron of Delhi Daredevils) in the competition.
It was surprising to see skipper Angelo Mathews persisting with Dinda even as Bhuvneshwar Kumar had two overs left.u00a0However, Pune Warriors’ assistant coach Praveen Amre defended the move to persist with Dinda. “We back Dinda in the death overs and Bhuvneshwar is our new-ball bowler.
Today Aaron Finch and Rahul Sharma bowled inside the powerplays and it may have denied Bhuvi his full quota. We have to bowl well in the death overs,” said Amre.u00a0Pune had finally ended their 11-match losing streak in the IPL on Thursday by beating Rajasthan Royals, but they were beaten comprehensively by Mumbai Indians on Saturday by 41 runs.
“We are disappointed to lose as we wanted to carry the momentum. But conceding 65 runs in the last four overs was crucial. I think that was the turning point. We lost too many wickets inside the powerplay overs and that didn’t help,” Amre said.
The former India batsman said the team management would back underfire Ross Taylor, who scored just four runs on Saturday, even as experts’ calls to include all-rounder Steven Smith get louder.
“It is hard on Smith, but we already have an all-rounder in Angelo Mathews, who is also the captain. Ross is a quality player. Smith might get a chance in Chennai as Mathews won’t play there,” Amre concluded.u00a0
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