Harbhajan Singh points finger at Mumbai's poor shot selection

[JUGRAJ SINGH]

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Harbhajan Singh, the Mumbai Indians off-spinner and one of the senior-pros of the two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, refused to blame the uncanny nature of the Wankhede wicket as the holders slumped to a crushing nine-wicket defeat to newbies Rising Pune Supergiants in the opening game of the season on April 9 (Saturday).

Even as there was bounce, carry and judicious seam movement on offer, which the Pune bowlers made optimum use of, Harbhajan felt that it was batsmen's poor shot selection that did the team in, and stressed on the need to take time and execute plans in the future.

"Mumbai wicket is probably the best to bat on and (it's) just poor shot selection that (took us) where we landed today. We just need to work on our game a bit more. Sometimes we think there's hardly any time in the middle, but we need to take more time. I feel as a batting unit, even as a bowling unit, we need to think better and come out with better plans and obviously we need to execute our plans," Harbhajan said in a post-match press conference.

"There was nothing in the wicket, obviously it was a great cricketing wicket. Wankhede is probably one of the top wickets to play on and it's just that we didn't play well. So that's why we're not sitting here happy today," he added.

In a move that surprised many, and perhaps delighted his opposite number MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat. On hindsight, however, the decision may have felt like an incorrect one as the Mumbai Indians batting line-up fell apart rather swiftly. It took Harbhajan's late-order cameo of 45 from 30 deliveries to ensure Mumbai crawled past the three-figure mark, but the 35-year-old opted to stand by his skipper's call, arguing that it was, maybe to give his batsmen a chance to put runs on the board on what was expected to be a batsman-friendly wicket.

"It was obviously Rohit's decision to bat first and I stand by him as a team member. Whatever is his decision, we need to back his decision and go with whatever he feels is right. Maybe he wanted to bat first (as he felt there would be) less pressure on the batsmen while batting first. It's always been the case. I don't know what was the reason (to bat first) but we need to stand by him and give him the full support," Harbhajan explained.

The defending champions will be hurting from this early-season hiding they have been handed by Pune, but in a 59-game, 51-day tournament, there is a lot more to play for. Playing better cricket, for the moment, is on Harbhajan's agenda for his side.

"Obviously we are not too happy with the result. We did not bat as well as we should have as a unit. It was a tough game for us, hopefully we'll pull up our socks and play better cricket in the future," Harbhajan said.
 
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