Dravid said, “To win a big tournament like the IPL, you have to seize every small opportunity, but we made several small mistakes that cost us dearly. We are learning from these things because there’s nothing else you can do. If you look at our performance this season, we lost two or three matches very narrowly. You could also call it bad luck.”
Regardless of the tournament results so far, I am quite happy with my team. It’s a young team that is gradually improving. The team has talented players like Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, and Dhruv Jurel, who have the potential to change the outcome.
Sanju Samson’s injury is gradually improving. A side strain takes some time to heal completely. Our medical team checks on him daily. Hopefully, he will be fully fit in the next few days. There’s no doubt that we miss him in every match.
The last match was tremendous for us, and we want to continue the winning momentum. Mumbai Indians are a very strong team, but our players’ morale is high. We don’t think too far ahead and focus on one match at a time.
14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who scored a century off 35 balls against Gujarat Titans, is in the limelight, but coach Rahul is also guiding him on essential life lessons, not just coaching. Dravid said, “I want Vaibhav to stay away from the glamour and focus on the game. However, this is difficult in today’s times, so we are teaching him how to handle praise and criticism. We are trying to build a strong support system around him. In India, all these things are part of cricket, and you have to learn to cope with them.”