Harbhajan not sweating over Mumbai's loss to Chennai

Harbhajan not sweating over Mumbai's loss to Chennai. But Pollard, who struck vital blows with the ball, has reason to sulk

Sachin Tendulkar was rock solid yet again but dehydration stopped him from being a winner-grinner in the end.

Against Chennai Super Kings, Tendulkar was guiding Mumbai to what would have been their eighth win in nine games but he had to return to the pavilion after making 38 off 28 balls. When he returned, Mumbai lost six wickets. And when he holed out in the deep, Mumbai's chances of victory over Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men became near impossible.

The young guns in the Mumbai batting order had let the side down but star spinner Harbhajan Singh refused to lash out at his teammates. "Youngsters like (Ambati) Rayudu and (Saurabh) Tiwari were out quickly and we were not able to put up good partnerships. It is part of the game. If Sachin had stayed at the wicket for 15 overs, the story would have been different," said Harbhajan after Mumbai's 24-run loss.

"They (youngsters) have won a lot of games for us. This is one of the game they did not click in. But we have lot of faith in them. They are all young and exciting cricketers and I am sure they will do better in future games too. Everyone can make mistakes and it is okay." The Mumbai bowlers did well to restrict the strong Chennai batting order to 165 but the hosts ensured they were tigerish when it came to their fielding.

Pollard power
Mumbai's West Indian recruit Kieron Pollard proved to be an effective medium pacer as he sent back dangermen Matthew Hayden (35) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (31).

u00a0"Ours was a very good bowling effort and we should have got that but I must say Chennai bowled very well and their fielding was brilliant. They played better cricket than us... hats off to them.u00a0Hopefully, we will get our act together and return to our winning ways," said Harbhajan.

The Sikh's solitary wicket was Murali Vijay, who had scored blistering hundred against Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals on Saturday. The Tamil Nadu batsman's furniture was shattered when he tried to cut Harbhajan. "I looked to getting him out rather than just bowling dot balls because he is kind of a player who can score quickly. My thinking was if he is good enough, he will go for it. But it went my way," the offie said.

"Normally in Twenty20, the bowlers are the ones at the receiving end. God has been kind to me."
Indeed. He went for only 23 in four overs.