From Kaptaan Kaur’s consistency, to the change in the opening partnership, to the challenges for Mumbai Indians’ middle-order, the team’s Batting Coach, Devieka Palshikaar, was at the post-match press conference, throwing light on a range of topics following MI’s close win over the Gujarat Giants. Excerpts..

On Harmanpreet Kaur’s consistent form this year

In last year’s Eliminator, which was a close game which we lost by five runs, we actually had a long chat that one of Nat (Sciver-Brunt) or Harman (Kaur) needs to be there through the innings. That’s why we were working on that. She practices a lot against pace and spin. This is very focused practice which is why we see this major difference in her batting.

Reasons behind getting Amelia Kerr to open the batting

The kind of opening partnership we were expecting, unfortunately didn’t happen in the first few games. So we just thought that we were using Amelia because she doesn’t get a lot of overs or balls to face. She used to play that role for her national team. That’s why she was ready. Kamalini, I still feel, needs some time for this platform. She’s ready for that, but when it comes to experience, Amelia was ready and that is why we made this switch.            

Whether she felt nervous at the end

It would be wrong to say no. We have seen Bharti (Fulmali) for the last two years. We know her potential very well. That wasn’t coming out in this big platform, but today she played really well. Suddenly then maybe after seeing her game, Simran (Shaikh) got a jerk and even she started hitting. It wasn’t like we felt that it was going away, but we an idea that it would be a close game.

On Hayley Matthews’ top all-round form

Hayley is also taking a lot of effort. In the initial few matches, she wasn’t clicking. They are all great players, but sometimes, the form goes missing. Now, she is focusing extra in the practice sessions. For the first time I am seeing her take a lot of slip catches. She is bowling to all the batters in the nets and doing some extra batting. All of us want to do really well and reach the final, which we missed last year.

On S Sajana’s form and confidence  

Sometimes, you expect a lot out of yourself. She wants to go out and deliver because she has done it in the past. It isn’t happening. But today she did quite well. This will give her confidence in the coming matches. This cameo that she played was good. She is always confident. She is really good to have in the side. Their performances sometimes make them feel up and down.

On MI’s middle-order

Their role is very important for us. They get chances very rarely and we always want them to be ready for that. Maybe unfortunately, they don’t play the same role for their domestic sides. There they play in the top-order. Here, their role completely changes. We prepare them for that. Right from the beginning they know what their role is. The role clarity is there and maybe because of that the execution becomes easy for them.

Whether using Shabnim Ismail’s overs upfront is the new strategy

It was today’s demand. We wanted those main wickets early. The net run-rate matters for us and we wanted to finish the game a little early. She was the right matchup for those batters which is why we finished her overs early. Maybe she’s not getting wickets but her economy is good, that gives confidence to other bowlers. Like batting partnerships, they have good bowling partnerships. She contributes a lot even though she doesn’t get wickets.