After losing the opening match of IPL 2021 by two wickets, Mumbai Indians (MI) opener Chris Lynn revealed that his side missed the sixth bowler.
Glenn Maxwell, the star batsman of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), hit Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar all over the park when the Mumbai based franchise was looking for wickets.
Lynn said that it was the shoulder issue that didn’t allow Hardik to bowl, and the physios, along with the staff doctors, will check if there’s any problem with him.
“I’m not a hundred percent sure but it’s a bit of a shoulder niggle. The physios and the staff doctors will treat Hardik if there’s something wrong,” Lynn told the broadcasters.
The Aussie also asserted that the franchise treats them well and is keeping Pandya’s already existent workload in mind before giving him any further responsibilities.
“I think Hardik Pandya not bowling is maybe more precautionary. He’s played a fair bit of cricket leading up to this tournament, in which he has to play (minimum) 14 games as well,” Lynn asserted.
The Queensland batsman also revealed that bowling makes the Surat-born lad confident, which transcends to his batting as well. And hopefully, Mumbai will be using the all-rounder’s services soon.
“He (Hardik) is a huge factor with the bat but if he gets bowling, then it adds another dimension to the team. We might have been missing the sixth bowler tonight but it’s early stages in the tournament. I do believe if Hardik is bowling then it brings out confidence in his batting as well. So fingers crossed we’ll see him with the ball sooner rather than later,” Lynn added.
However, the Australian was a little sceptical when asked about the loss. He said that his side would have to adjust to the playing conditions at Chepauk since they are scheduled to play four more games there, and the pitches will get difficult to bat on as the tournament progresses.
“We’re going to have to adapt to this Chennai wicket. It’s going to be challenging and tricky from a batting point of view but we’ve got four more games here to get it right,” Lynn further stated.
Lynn smashed a 35-ball 49 and missed his half-century before being caught and bowled by Washington Sundar.
Rohit Sharma and Co. are scheduled to play their next match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 13 at MA Chidambaram Stadium.
