Malinga, Jayawardene accused of 'breaking the spirit' of MI players: 'They're telling a bowler like Bumrah what to do'
Lasith Malinga and Mahela Jayawardene have come under fire for their excessive involvement in the match from the dugout during the IPL 2025 Qualifier 2 between Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. In a high-scoring match, PBKS gunned down MI's total of 203 by 7 wickets, riding on captain Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten 87, to book themselves a place in the final, where the 2014 finalists will meet the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
However, as the IPL 2025 is guaranteed to have a new champion, one couldn't help but feel for MI, the five-time champions, going for a sixth. Plenty of reasons led to their defeat, including one that Harbhajan Singh feels was highly detrimental to their chances. The former India spinner took exception to the excessive passing of instructions from head coach Jayawardene and bowling coach Malinga as MI looked to control the innings against PBKS.
"Look at the Mumbai Indians dugout. When they were leaking runs, there was way too much involvement from the outside. Coaches are telling a bowler like Bumrah what to do and what not. A dressing room needs to remain calm and composed. Coaches should only give advice. Don't show desperation. So somewhere I felt that when this happens way too much, it breaks their spirit," Harbhajan, a former MI cricketer himself, said on his YouTube channel.
Also Read: Mahela Jayawardene's non-stop signals from boundary line amuse Jasprit Bumrah; pacer turns to Rohit Sharma for answers
While Malinga too had his moments in the dugout, talking to players on a regular basis, Jayawardene, in particular, cut a highly animated figure every time MI seemed to come under even a little bit of pressure. During the previous match – the Eliminator against Gujarat Titans too – a video of Jayawardene trying to talk to Bumrah went viral – a set of instructions which the MI pacer ignored and asked the coach to calm down. Harbhajan reminded Jayawardene that these are proven performers who have won the IPL several times before, and that sometimes, perhaps, it's not that bad an idea to just sit and execute your plans in the dugout rather than constantly being at the players' ears.
"Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, these are big players. And when they are playing, let them do what they need to do to get the right result for the team. They have won many trophies together. They needed to be shown a lot more faith, but the coaching staff time and again were interfering and gesturing with their hands," added Harbhajan.
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