In his first game as Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach against the Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS), Mahela Jayawardene made a few rather intriguing changes.

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Pushing captain Rohit Sharma down to No. 3 from his favourite opening position, and dropping senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh from the playing XI were two most notable ones.

It was the second one that raised more eyebrows, for Bhajji has been an integral part of the MI set-up right from the onset of the league. Why, he even gave the franchise its first-ever silverware, leading the side all the way to the title in the 2011 Champions League.

For someone like him to be dropped for a season opener was, thus, a bit of a shocker. As it turned out, MI couldn’t defend 185 runs, and had only two overs of spin from left-armer Krunal Pandya.

“Bhajji wasn’t dropped. It was just a combination thing. Tactically, we decided (that) first game, given the opposition, that’s the way we wanted to go. Simple as that,” Jayawardene said here on Saturday on the eve of MI’s second game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

His explanation of benching – not dropping, mind you – the offie was even more interesting.

“When you look at their (RPS) line-up, they had eight right-handers in the top 10, except for (Ben) Stokes. We still had Nitish (Rana) in our line-up who could bowl. It was a green wicket and they had two leg-spinners (Imran Tahir and Adam Zampa), one of whom went for runs and just one took wickets off pretty straight balls. I think tactically, we got it right,” Jayawardene said.

Yes, RPS went in with two leggies, but the duo took four wickets among themselves. In a format bossed by batsmen where bowlers are increasingly made to look more like bowling machines, wickets are priceless. And that’s where MI were found wanting in their opening game.

It will be all the more imperative to be desperate for wickets against KKR, who lost nil in their opening victory against the Gujarat Lions on Friday. They have an opening pair as dangerous as any in Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn, and possess equally potent batting firepower after them.

What’s more, even they have just one left-hander – Gambhir — in their top-seven, and it remains to be seen if the MI think-tank sticks with its theory of not throwing in Harbhajan against right-handed batsmen on a Wankhede deck he loves to bowl on.

After all, a wicket-taker is a wicket-taker, notwithstanding the position of the batsman.

Malinga in, Rayudu out

Mumbai Indians’ biggest weapon over the years, Lasith Malinga, has joined the squad ahead of their game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday. Malinga was away on national duty during MI’s opening game, playing against Bangladesh in a T20I series in Sri Lanka.

And while MI were losing their match on Friday, Malinga was busy taking a hat-trick on the same day in the second T20I against Bangladesh. “Yes, Malinga has arrived, and is available for selection,” MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene said here on Saturday. “To have Malinga gives us more options in our attack,” he added.

But MI also suffered an injury setback, losing batsman Ambati Rayudu to a groin injury during the last game against RPS, when he was stretchered off the field. Jayawardene confirmed that the middle-order batsman will be out for at least 10 days. “Rayudu has had a scan. He’s got a Grade 1 tear … For now, he’s going to be out for 10 days for sure,” the Jayawardene said.