“Last season threw us some challenges, but it’s been a big auction, and a lot of changes have happened,” Jayawardene said at MI’s pre-season press conference in Mumbai. “With that, we got a fresh canvas to start and paint our destiny. We have the core group with us who’s got the experience, who knows what the culture is, how we need to play, and how we need to win.
“And with the new group of guys includes some of the old faces coming back – like Trent, who was a big part in our success in 2020. So, for us, it’s about the putting this parcel together, making sure that we gel well as a group, understanding our strengths, and have a good start.”
“The communication within the bubble was quite good,” Jayawardene, who was MI’s global head of performance across T20 leagues till 2024, said. “And even though I wasn’t the head coach, I was part of the main set-up. So I knew what was happening. It was important for us to get together. We pride on our core group; that’s been our success for many years, and these guys have done brilliantly, [and] worked hard. It’s not an easy thing to win an IPL trophy. And Mumbai has been successful delivering that, and each year, the challenge is for us to set ourselves up for that.
“With the core group, the experience that we have, we have added more experience into that this year. That was something planned that we wanted to achieve. We have seven guys in our main squad who’ve won IPL trophies with different franchises as well. As a coach, I’m trying to get that structure in place, get the best out of them, and then add the other individuals that we need to add to be a bit more different.
“I realise that the last few years with the rule changes and all that, the dynamics have changed, and that’s something we need to be mindful of, but at the same time, play the brand of cricket that we want to play as a group, and dominate in there.”
Hardik himself was a crucial part of the India sides that lifted the two ICC titles since the last IPL, even being the vice-captain during the 2024 T20 World Cup. He will now lead an MI side that features two India captains – Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav – and India’s Test vice-captain Bumrah, whenever he is fit. Hardik said the last 12 months had been “very entertaining” for him, and that he was “lucky” to have three captains in his side who will “always be there” for him.
“I am very confident. I was confident back then. I was confident when I was playing the Champions Trophy, and I am confident now,” Hardik said. “So if you ask me about my confidence, it’s always going to be high.
“My life has been quite up and down, but I think that has been the learning which I really enjoyed. It has just not taught me about the sport, [but] it has taught me about life as well that how life would be over the years. This year, it’s a fresh year. A lot of things have changed, a lot of things are added. There will be always passion. There will always be grit, there will be always challenges which I love, and for me, the crucial part would be to make sure if the challenges are thrown at my boys, how I can help them fight their way out.”
“See, [for] the bowling group, I will tell you the plans: we are very clear to get a lot of experience in it, because Wankhede can be sometimes very unforgiving to the bowlers. So it was very, very important to bring in experience – from Mitch [Santner] to Trent [Boult].”
Hardik Pandya on how MI put their bowling attack together
MI will hope their pace attack of Boult, Deepak Chahar, Corbin Bosch and Reece Topley steps up, especially in the death overs, a phase in which Bumrah is all but irreplaceable.
“See, [for] the bowling group, I will tell you the plans: we are very clear to get a lot of experience in it,” Hardik said, “because Wankhede can be sometimes very unforgiving to the bowlers, the kind of track which we play on. So it was very, very important to bring in experience – from Mitch [Santner] to Trent.
“Trent was very, very important for us. Deepak, all are experienced individuals. Boom [Bumrah], myself, Mujeeb [Ur Rahman] – even youngsters who have played a lot of cricket. And I think that was very, very important to bring a lot of experience. So when the tough time comes, they have felt the pressure earlier.”
“There’s a little bit more adrenaline for the boys as well [playing against CSK],” Jayawardene said. “Yeah, we have a big challenge to try and correct something in history where we haven’t won a first match in a tournament for a number of years. So looking forward to that.”
Vishal Dikshit is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo