Mumbai, March 30 Suryakumar Yadav, India's T20 captain, who played as a substitute in Mumbai Indians' IPL opener here, was a precautionary measure due to a minor injury he was nursing, said head coach Mahela Jayawardene, insisting that there were no "unnecessary stories" to be found in this.
Suryakumar did not field for MI in their first match of the season against Kolkata Knight Riders and scored 16 runs in 8 balls during a brief innings, as the hosts defeated KKR by 6 wickets to record their highest successful run chase in IPL history on Sunday.
"I hope we don't create any unnecessary stories (here), the team is happy. He needed a couple more days (off)," Jayawardene told reporters after being asked why, like former India and MI captain Rohit Sharma last season, Suryakumar was played as a substitute.
"He had a minor groin issue, and he was doing fielding and other activities. But I knew I had another five days from this game to the next. I just wanted to give him that extra time. He even wanted to go (and field) for three-four overs at the end. But I said, 'no, it's fine'," he said.
"So please don't create any stories. It's just that I need to take precautions. These are very valuable players for me to have them playing throughout the season. These are calculated decisions that I and the management make, and there is nothing beyond that," Jayawardene said.
Jayawardene was pleased that Mumbai Indians finally ended their winless streak in opening matches of the IPL. Rohit (78) and Ryan Rickelton (81) put on a 148-run opening stand in pursuit of 221 after Shardul Thakur (3/39) impressed on a batting-friendly wicket.
"Yeah, it was brilliant. It was a good (batting) wicket. When they reached 220, I thought we were a bit lacking in execution. We could have probably (given) 20 runs less. But the way Rohit and Ryan batted, it was a pleasure to watch," Jayawardene said.
"It was also a tactical decision, because if we were using Hardik (Pandya) as well in the opening, we couldn't have too many new ball bowlers," the former Sri Lankan captain said about Thakur's performance.
"I needed some options in the middle and at the back end, and that was the thinking when we traded Shardul. It was an example of us thinking differently with our bowling combinations to suit different opponents, and how we wanted to approach the game," he added.
Jayawardene said Rohit is enjoying this phase of not having leadership responsibilities.
"He came from the first day of the camp. He was very focused. He was fresh. I think after so many years, I've had him from day one of the camp. He played some really good practice matches. We had a lot of simulations for him, especially to get him going," Jayawardene said.
"It has freed him up. He is thinking more calmly. He is not the leader (so there is) less pressure on him. This happens; it happened to me as well in my last few years when I went and played franchise cricket."
"You practice less, but your muscle memory works, and you just go with the flow. You know what the bowlers are trying to do, and once you are in that mode, you have that freedom, which we noticed in Rohit in the last couple of years."