The message is simple – to keep it simple. The MI Family knows what it takes to win the big moments. And Bowling Coach, Vinay Kumar, has been part of many such moments himself. Here he is, looking back and forward in the post-match press conference. Excerpts.. 

On Rohid Bangash’s bowling performance 

He bowled really well. It wasn’t easy at all because Zahoor was supposed to play in this game. Before the toss he got injured and Rohid came in. Credit goes to him for the way he performed. It isn’t easy for any player to prepare in 10 minutes. That is why we bought him at the Auction. He was our main player in the last season. Really happy. The Sharjah wickets skids on and the areas he bowled was really good and the temperament was top class. 

Message to the team for the Final

Keep it simple. Yes, it is the final, but at the end of the day, it is just another cricket game. You need to be focused. You need to be calm, relaxed, understand the conditions and play good cricket. 

A look back at MI Emirates’ campaign 

If you look back, we won five out of five in the league stage. Yes, we lost in the first qualifier, but credit has to be given to the captain and the coaching staff for keeping everyone in the loop. It’s important to make sure the players remain in the middle path, not go too high or too low. That is the biggest strength in MIE where they back the players. When it comes to crunch situations, the seniors step up and perform for the team. If you look at Shakib, he didn’t get an opportunity initially when Rashid Khan was there and this was the first time he went out to bat at number four, and the way he performed was outstanding. They all feel like this is home. Only then can they come up with such a performance.

On Kieron Pollard’s captaincy 

He has played a lot of cricket. In T20 cricket, he is a legend. He understands the game really well. When a batter is under pressure he himself comes and stands at short leg or silly point where he puts more pressure on batters to go for big shots. He is looking much fitter and leaner and he mentioned that he would love to play for a few more years. He is working really hard and it is paying off nicely. 

On input of other coaches in the MI universe 

We have worked as a team. Everyone will be very happy with the way the team has performed. There is another game happening in South Africa today and everyone is very keenly watching that game. It is a one family and everyone will be very happy. If required, they will chip in with their inputs and we will be very happy to take that and move forward. 

Thoughts on the wicket

The wicket was very skiddy. When you come to Sharjah, we expect this kind of a track. We’ve always mentioned to batters playing here to look to play straight, and not go for the horizontal shorts. That was very visible. When a batter played straight, they got runs, whenever they played across, they struggled. That’s how the wicket played.