MI's batting woes: Trent Boult unfazed by rocky start for batters after GT loss

India Today

Mumbai Indians pacer Trent Boult is unfazed by the rocky start made by the batters after their loss to Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Saturday, March 29. The MI batters have struggled to make an impact so far.

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00:00It's a very tough question for me, straight up. Obviously there's a difference. Wankete's

00:25obviously typically the red soil, good tactics from the opposition. If you've got those options

00:30to do that, it obviously makes sense, but I don't think we'll be using it as an excuse.

00:35There's players on our team that have played all over the country on all different types

00:38of wickets, as well as the international players in there. So yeah, in all honesty, just off

00:44the game tonight, I thought they scrapped their way to a good total and they showed

00:48us how to bowl on that wicket, so full credit to them.

00:58I think it was just good thinking of using home tactics in your advantage. Obviously

01:03there should be an advantage for the home team, but like I said, not an excuse from

01:07our point of view. We understood the wicket that was black soil and I don't think we just

01:13didn't adjust nicely enough.

01:14And finally, your ability to contribute in the power play was very important and it has

01:15given the teams in the Premier League success. Do you think they will be able to play in

01:16the power play next season?

01:17I would love to, yeah. I don't think the ball has been swinging as much as I'd like it to,

01:33but it's a long tournament, so hopefully I enjoy some success at some point.

01:37Too early in the season. It's a long tournament. There's some very, very quality players that

01:52have scored lots of runs across all formats around the world, so the experience is there.

01:57We understand this game can be tough for both bowlers and batters and yeah, we've had two

02:03games, so I don't think we've got to look too much into it too much. And the beauty

02:07is that we get on a plane and we're about to play in less than 24 hours again, so hopefully

02:11we can turn it around very quickly.

02:12What was it like after the season that there was enough restriction that people could be

02:13able to win cricket, or was it a problem that you've had to actively let people chase you

02:14down a little bit, 20 runs more?

02:15Personally, obviously there was a game here a couple of days ago where nearly 550 runs

02:29were scored. Different soil again. The ball can travel here. I thought we adjusted to

02:36the wicket nicely, kept the team under 200. I thought it was a good total. I thought it

02:43was gettable, but like I said earlier, I thought the way their pace bowlers especially took

02:47pace off the ball there throughout that middle period, overs 14 to 18 I think went for 20

02:54runs or something and obviously picked up a couple of vital wickets. So yeah, it didn't

02:57go to plan tonight, but yeah, the beauty is it's a long tournament, quick turnaround

03:01and looked to have wronged a few rights very quickly.

03:03Most of the answers you've given, according to you and your teammates, where did you find

03:12that situation where you could do something big?

03:15Well, they got 36 more runs than us. That's what went wrong. Yeah, I think we can just

03:20be as cliche as it sounds, just one or 2% better. Bowlers will look at their plans,

03:26how well did they execute it, and batsmen always want to get more runs. It's as simple

03:29as that. I think the fielding is a part of the game that can never be excused. I think

03:34we're a little bit off the field today, which was a bit of a shame. Take a catch there on

03:38the boundary, save a couple of boundaries. You know, there's maybe 20 or 30 runs there.

03:44So yeah, time to move on and look forward to doing that.

03:48Hi there. Mumbai Indians, if it's our month, the lift-off pass for us has been a crime

03:55since the inception of IPL from 2008, from Mitch McClendon to Mitchell Johnson to you

04:01to Zahid Khan to Sardis, and in all the five titles in Mumbai 1, the lift-off passers have

04:07played a major role. So how much do you miss Mumbai Indians other than Mumbai Indians miss

04:11you?

04:14You're trying to put pressure on me there. I don't think it's just pinned down to left

04:19armours. You can be as theoretical as you like, but those championship winning sides

04:26have had more than just a left armour on their team. They've had some very, very quality

04:31players. It's been a team effort. It's been a squad effort. By winning five titles, that

04:36obviously expresses that the franchise knows how to win tournaments. The only message I'll

04:41give you is it's a long tournament. It's only getting longer, and there's still a lot

04:44of cricket to be played. So we're looking forward to getting home into conditions that

04:47we know well. And yeah, we'll go from there.

04:52So one question, how has the U.S. impacted after the fourth or third weekend? You don't

04:58have a partnership after the third or the fourth. Almost you are out of your team now,

05:05so no partnership, no big shots, no privacy. Is it a concern for the batting and how do

05:13you view the fact?

05:18It's quite a hard question for me to answer because I'm the worst batsman on the team.

05:23So like I said, they bowled very well. They brought the percentages into the fact that

05:30taking the pace out of the ball, making the batsman play big shots, as well as combined

05:35with scoreboard pressure, that's just good cricket. So like I said, from a bowling point

05:41of view, love to restrict them for a few less runs, make the total a little bit less, and

05:47I suppose put the batsman in less pressure. But yeah, they bowled very well tonight. It

05:52was a good game, and we're looking forward to moving on.

05:55What is the thought process behind the change?

06:02I presume Black Saw, slower, expected to turn a little bit more. I don't think the ball

06:08turned too much. I think the pace bowlers turned it a little bit more than the spinners.

06:13And Rushy Khan bowled two overs, which is amazing as well. I don't know how many times

06:17he doesn't bowl out in T20 cricket, but yeah, I presume that was the thinking. But yeah,

06:23that's up to the coaching staff to pick the side, obviously. And yeah, looking forward

06:28to Monday afternoon.

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