Mumbai coach Lalchand Rajput is aiming for a berth in the semifinals of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after their resounding win over Chennai on Wednesday.
“I think Sachin Tendulkar’s return has given us a real boost. The team is brimming with confidence, which is a very good sign for us after a shaky start in the tournament,” said Rajput, who was India’s cricketing manager earlier this year.
Tendulkar made his debut in the IPL after missing the first seven matches due to a groin injury, but it was Sri Lankan left-hander Sanath Jayasuriya who stole the show against Chennai with a quick-fire 114 not out off 48 balls that enabled them to hammer the opposition by nine wickets.
“If we continue to perform the way we did on Wednesday, our road to the last-four stage will become easy,” Rajput told Cricketnext.com on Thursday.
“Sachin is a great motivator. His presence on the field made a lot of difference. He plays according to the team’s needs. When Sanath was going great guns, Sachin didn’t mind playing second fiddle as his priority was to ensure a solid start,” Rajput added.
“Things don’t always go according to plan and we found ourselves in such a situation in the beginning of the tournament. Thankfully for us, Sanath has struck form at the right time. Our bowling, spearheaded by Shaun Pollock and Ashish Nehra, too has been improving by the day. Dhaval Kulkarni has shown a lot of promise and hopefully our combined effort will help us rise from our current sixth position on the points table,” he added.
Refusing to comment on Harbhajan Singh, Rajput said the team was not thinking of a replacement at the moment.
“Right now our focus is on the next match against Kolkata. We are banking on youngsters to do a containment job and let us see how it goes from here-on,” the former Test opener said.
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