Captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Mahela Jayawardene addressed a pre-season press conference on March 23rd and touched upon a number of topics - about committed youngsters, the importance of role clarity, the importance of a core group and a short update on Surya among others.

With the league stages of the Tata IPL 2022 being played in Mumbai and Pune, it could be perceived as a home advantage for MI but both Ro and Mahela downplayed that notion.

“I don’t believe it is an added advantage because there are a lot of new guys, most of whom have not played in Mumbai before. It’s only me, Surya, Pollard, Ishan and Bumrah who have that experience,” stressed Rohit.

“In fact, we have not even played in Mumbai for two years, the other teams have so there is no advantage.”

Another major difference this year is of course the addition of two new teams, making it a 10-team league and leading to a tweak in the playing format.

This was last used in the Tata IPL in 2011 and with both Rohit and Mahela having the experience of playing in the new format, they felt there was no change in how a season is planned.

“It may be a longer tournament but we have reasonable breaks in between. We still play the same number of games, it will be a challenge to stay motivated but we have done it in the past,” said Mahela.

“To be honest, nothing changes in terms of planning, we just have to play the opposition. We have to be aware of the teams we play once, it is important to plan well against them because we won’t have a second shot later,” added Rohit.

MI did retain its core of Ro, Boom, SKY and Polly with Ishan returning to the squad as did Mayank Markande and Anmolpreet Singh.

However, the rest of the players are new, especially the bowlers, and both the captain and coach are working towards giving them clarity for the roles they have to perform.

“The bowlers are new to the team but not new to the game - guys like Unadkat and Mills - they have played for years so our critical role will be to make them understand what they need to do for us. We are working to give them a role clarity, and it is a challenge you face when building a new team,” stated Rohit.

“Our core players - Rohit, Polly, Surya, Ishan and Boom - have managed their responsibilities well and it is upto them to create a comfortable environment. They will do most of the work to get the new guys to that level, making them calmer and more comfortable on and off the field. That is what we strive to do,” said Mahela.

Meanwhile, one of our core players, Suryakumar Yadav, is still recovering from an injury and is undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. It is not yet known when he will join the squad, which is only possible once he gets a fitness clearance from the NCA.

MI also brought in a few exciting youngsters like Tilak Varma and Dewald Brevis and coach Mahela is happy with what he is seeing in the nets.

“Tilak is a massive talent and fortunately, we got him in the auction. He has a lot of potential, as does Dewald Brevis - he is a committed young man and is willing to learn, which is good to see. Like any other youngster, they have a process to go through, they have to learn from the experienced players. We will try to nurture all the young guys in the team,” noted Mahela.

Both the skipper and coach made some very important points about how to integrate new players and give them the best possible environment to thrive in.

We are certainly pumped up to see how the new squad does under the guidance of MasterMinds like Mahela and Zak and what they learn from the experienced core group.