Mumbai local players have contributed: Kumble

Skipper Sachin Tendulkar has been Mumbai Indians' stand-out performer in the third edition of the Indian Premier League. But when required, the young local players of Mumbai Indians have come to the party with useful contributions as well.


The semi-final game against Royal Challengers Bangalore proved to be another test for the youngsters of Mumbai. And they came out with flying colours in their 35-run win.

With Tendulkar falling early, the onus fell on Ambati Rayudu and Saurabh Tiwary to shore up the innings and the two did not let the team down. Tiwary hit a brilliant 52 not out off 31 balls while Rayudu hit a fighting 38-ball 40 to lead MI's recovery after the home team had been reduced to 77 for four in 9.3 overs.

RCB skipper Anil Kumble said MI's local players had been its real strength. "In IPL, it's about the seven Indian players. They have to perform consistently and Mumbai Indians, have done that," said Kumble.

Zaheer Khan, who led Mumbai Indians after Tendulkar left the field due to injury, also credited his young batsmen for MI's success.

"Our initial target was of around 170 to 175, but because of Rayudu and Tiwary and then Pollard we were able to get in excess of 180," said Zaheer.

Kumble admitted that the last five overs of the MI innings gave them the necessary momentum with Pollard's knock making the difference.

"We were expecting to restrict them to around 160 to 170 runs, however we bowled poorly at the death and ended up having a target in excess of 180 to win. Despite the huge total, I think we were batting well and were on par with the required rate till the ninth over with only two wickets down. However, two wickets in two balls did not help us. We also have to give credit for the way the Mumbai Indians bowled," said Kumble.

"We did not play well for the full 40 overs, bowling well for 15 overs and then batting well for 10 overs, which is not good enough as we needed to play consistently for the whole duration of the match," added Kumble.

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