Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Mumbai Indians’ all-rounder Naman Dhir is one of the youngsters who got an opportunity to display their wares in the Indian Premier League 2024. Dhir had limited success in his maiden season as he could manage only 78 runs in six matches at a strike rate of 152.04, the modest figures failing to leave much of a mark.
The 24-year-old batter from Punjab on Thursday said he has learned more from his failures than successes in IPL 2024 and said the team will step out for the final time at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday, hoping to finish the campaign on a winning note against the Lucknow Super Giants.
“I think sometimes failures teach you more and I learned a lot this season, understanding how to remain calm when things are not going well for you, learning how one should approach various situations and try and build their innings,” Dhir said in the pre-match press conference ahead of Mumbai Indians’ clash with Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede.
Dhir said Mumbai Indians will be playing for pride in Friday’s match as they want to end the campaign on a winning note.
“We will play for our pride. We want to win this match and end the campaign on a winning note. It is an opportunity for youngsters to showcase their talent. It has not been a great season for us but we have always tried to give our best in each match,” said Naman Dhir, who bowls potent off-breaks too.
Dhir was picked by Mumbai Indians for his success at the domestic level. Dhir had scored two centuries for Punjab in eight matches of the 2023 Ranji Trophy season.
According to the Mumbai Indians website, Dhir is a finisher, batting at the death and closing out games as he did in Punjab’s maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy win last year.
In IPL 2024, he was part of the MI middle order though on occasions, he was also sent one-down.
Dhir said it was a learning experience for him as he picked on the brains of coaches Kieron Pollard and Mark Boucher and also learned from watching top batters like Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav from his team.
He said he also observed the top batters from other teams but did not get to interact with any of the stars from opponent teams except Punjab Kings.
Summing up the season and the lack of support for seasoned pacer Jasprit Bumrah who waged a lone battle for Mumbai Indians, Dhir said, ““Sometimes we batted well or sometimes we bowled well. The coaches have also spoken with us that it was not our season, yet we worked hard. Yes, Jasprit bhai did not get enough support for his bowling in some matches, but we will learn from it.”
Bumrah has taken 20 wickets in IPL 2024 so far and was the lone bright spot for Mumbai Indians.
Overall, Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants have played four matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) so far, with LSG winning three of them.