The first game of IPL 2021 lived up to its hype, with the match going down to the last ball. Put to bat first by the RCB, MI managed 159/9 in 20 overs after losing four wickets in the final over of the game, courtesy, a 5-wicket haul from Harshal Patel.

Initially, debutant Chris Lynn and Suryakumar Yadav scored 49 (35) and 31 (23) to give MI a good start. For RCB, AB de Villiers lead the run chase with a 48 (27).

Chris Lynn addressed the media at the post-match press conference. The opener shared answered a few questions from the press. Below are excerpts from the same:

Should Bumrah have bowled another over at the beginning instead of keeping three overs for the death?

Chris: Yeah, look, it’s a tricky one. Rohit has been a very successful captain, so you’ve got to back the captain and the moves that he makes. At that stage, we needed a wicket, I think overall, we were just a little bit off from our game. Not much. It’s the first game of the tournament. Bumrah is excellent with his death bowling, so I think we wanted to keep his overs in the backend because that’s where he’s feared by the batting teams. So, to have someone like Bumrah. You know, facing Bumrah in those tough overs in the backend, it can go another way. As a batter, playing in the opposite team, knowing that Bumrah has got three overs left in the latter half of the innings is mentally quite tough as well. So, as I said, I think there are various methods to his madness. I think at the end of the day, it wasn’t a tactical error. I think it was a simple error from all of us tonight.

What was going through your mind after being involved in the Rohit Sharma run-out?

Chris: “Obviously, I was a bit nervous. There’s no doubt about it. It was my first game for Mumbai and the first time I batted with Rohit as well. Look, it happens in the game of cricket as well. I thought that was a run, but obviously, that was not a run. But If I had been able to run past him and sacrificed my wicket, I definitely would’ve been mad. But obviously, that wasn’t the case. But you have to understand that it happens in the game of cricket. But yeah, I had put a little more pressure on myself, which is not ideal - running out your captain on your first game for the team. Probably the last, who knows? Anyway, it happens in the game of cricket. It would’ve been nice if we had struck the ball nicely. I think we were 10-15 runs short. There were many factors in this game tonight, not just the run-out.”

What is the reason Hardik didn’t bowl today?

Chris: “I’m not 100% sure, but I think there might be a little shoulder niggle. I’m not too sure, though. Obviously, I think it might be more precautionary despite the fair bit of training leading up to this tournament. And this tournament is 14 games as well. You don’t want to throw all your eggs in one basket and risk of having an injury. If it’s a shoulder, I’m not 100% sure. Obviously, the physios and the support staff and the support staff will treat him hard if there is something wrong there but he is obviously a huge factor with the bat, and if he gets bowling, you know, he adds more dimension, not only for himself but for the team in general. It probably might have been missing that six balls and odd but at the same time, this is the early stages in the tournament. There’s a lot of cricket to come. We’re going to have to adapt to this wicket. It’s going to be quite challenging and tricky from the batting point of view with five games here. So, the next four games are going to be tricky. So I just believe that if Hardik is bowling, it obviously brings some of that confidence in his batting as well. So fingers crossed. He’s got the ball in his hand sooner than later.”

There was a COVID scare in the MI camp. Did it affect the preparations for the first game?

Chris: “Obviously, you can make up as many excuses as you want, but I think as players we’ve played enough cricket over the years and over recent weeks, and we’ve trained enough as well. And I think we’ve played matches with far worse preparations. So, we can’t use that as an excuse. And we’ve got a great bunch of guys. We actually said in a  group that we wouldn’t use that as an excuse. Yes, it’s been tricky. It’s tricky for different people in different areas as well. I’m not a bowler, but I can imaging being a good ol’ fast bowler. As a batter, that’s not what you want to do is be outside moving around. But obviously, this group is very mentally strong, and even the attitudes see no excuses, look we hope it might be the last time it happens in the tournament, fingers crossed hope it’s all smooth sailing but we can’t control those things, what we can control is our attitude and no excuse policy.”