‘T20 getting harder but one has to keep backing himself’
MUMBAI: Mitchell McClenaghan may not be among the A-listers in the Mumbai Indians’ ranks but he has been mighty effective ever since he came on board in 2015.
The New Zealand left-hand quickie scalped 18 wickets in his first season and has never looked back. In current edition, he is the among the top-five wicket-takers with 17 scalps.
While this edition of the Indian Premier League has seen some great bowling, the leather flingers have gone for lot of runs as well. McClenaghan feels the game has changed and batsmen nowadays are fearless. “If you look across the board in this IPL, there have times people have gone for 40-plus and very good bowlers simply go for 50 or 60, that is unheard of,” said McClenaghan on the eve of the Mumbai Indians’ last home group game at the Wankhede Stadium against the Kings XI Punjab on Thursday.
He added: “The frequency of that actually happening is far greater than the past season, it is just the way the game has changed, the equipment has changed, guys are playing with lot less fear, youngsters come in and swing from ball one. It is getting harder but you have to keep backing yourself and adapting as we always do.”
McClenaghan has built such a reputation at Mumbai Indians that he has taken over the mantle of finishing off the innings, along with Jasprit Bumrah and he is relishing the prospects.
“My role in the side is to go and take wickets and be aggressive and try and get the key batsman out in the opposition. So, it is important for me to do that and bowl lot of hard overs when the guys are in or going to hit in the end,” said McClenaghan, who is part of the New Zealand squad for the Champions Trophy.
McClenaghan also confirmed that England batsman Jos Buttler won’t be available for the playoffs. “Jos Buttler won’t be with us for the playoffs, he has a great season for us. We are pretty lucky that someone like Lendl (Simmons) comes in and takes Jos’s spot. Key is Lendl gets couple of games under his belt, gets up to speed before the play-offs.”