Time for Mumbai Indians youngsters to show up in IPL, says head coach Mark Boucher | Cricket News – Times of India
MI fielded four uncapped players in their starting XI, two of whom were playing their first ever IPL match, against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their season opener.
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“The IPL is a massive event and it’s going to be a great opportunity for some of our young boys to really show up,” Boucher said in a media release issued by MI.
MI have prided themselves in giving opportunities to young talent and backing them to the hilt as they discover and realise their full potential.
“The way Mumbai Indians have selected their squads over the last few years has been, how you invest in youngsters for the future. It’s now time for those youngsters to show up and basically get the opportunities,” Boucher added.
In its opening encounter, as Mumbai Indians lost Suryakumar in the ninth over, debutant Nehal Wadhera joined a fluent Tilak Varma at the crease.
Varma and Wadhera put on a 50-run partnership of the season in just 30 balls. Wadhera made an impactful 21 off just 13 balls and injected pace into the innings taken ahead by Arshad Khan using his long handle.
MI’s bowling coach Shane Bond credited the youngsters for helping MI reaching 170.
“Tilak played brilliantly, and so did the other youngsters,” he said. Even captain Rohit Sharma picked Varma out for special praise, saying, “He is a very positive person, quite talented as well. Some of the shorts he played today, he showed a lot of courage. We wanted to be courageous enough, and hats off to Tilak for getting us to the total,” Bond said.
Speaking after his innings, Varma said, “I always back my shots, and I was doing the same thing here. I was asking my partners what could be a good total here and going accordingly.”
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