Following their resounding 62-run loss to the Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2 on Friday, Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher believes the absence of Jofra Archer and Jasprit Bumrah hurt them considerably. Although Boucher reckons the two pacers' absence left a gaping hole, he believes the replacement players showed immense promise.
Bumrah missed the entire tournament due to a back issue, while Archer played only five matches before returning home, owing to an elbow injury. Archer also took only two scalps at 95.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill took the match away from the five-time champions in the first half of Qualifer 2 when he slammed 129 off 60 deliveries to lift the Titans to 233. Mumbai tried their best to gun down another 200-run target but fell short as Mohit Sharma took five wickets to bowl the tourists out for 171 in 18.2 overs.
The former South African keeper-batter felt the players gave their best despite an understrength team and came up well short in the end. He suggested that injuries are part and parcel of any sport, but refused to make up excuses.
"You can look at Bumrah not being available, Jofra not being available, they are quality players. If you are losing out on your quality players, yes it's going to leave a hole. Not to put any blame on anyone, those things happen in sports, injuries happen in sports and you've got to deal with it. I thought that the guys that we brought in, they did their best in a situation where they probably weren't selected upfront. So they were brought into the competition maybe a little bit out of season for them. To lose two players like that, that was difficult but we gave our best and we weren't good enough," Boucher said in a post-match press conference.
Mark Boucher opens up on his first experience as IPL coach:
Reflecting on his first experience as an IPL coach, the 46-year-old felt it's a stressful competition and that a lot has to go a team's way to win. He elaborated:
"The experience has been fantastic, I've really enjoyed it. We've got a good group of guys in the dressing room, support staff has been great as well, lots of experience. It's a very tough competition, takes a lot to win a game of cricket, there are a lot of good teams that you come up against. So the results can go either way. So it's quite a stressful competition. But in saying that, to get to the playoffs is a good achievement."
The Titans will now face the Chennai Super Kings in the final on Sunday.
