Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar did not hide his disappointment over the Wankhede Stadium strip that offered big turn to the spinners in Saturday's match against Deccan Chargers.
The Mumbai Indians batsmen struggled to negotiate the likes of Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha and Jean-Paul Duminy, all of whom got huge help from the wicket.
"The ball was gripping quite a bit. I think the wicket could have been better. This was not to our liking," a dejected Tendulkar said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Incidentally, Tendulkar had earlier been critical of the Sawai Man Singh stadium wicket, which was slowish and Mumbai Indians struggled to 94 for eight against Rajasthan Royals in an earlier match in the tournament.
The iconic batsmen admitted that it was really disheartening to let things slip after controlling proceedings for 19 overs when the Chargers batted.
"We controlled proceedings for 19 overs. We should have given away less runs in the last over. Also, while batting, we played a lot of dot balls. Pollard and Harbhajan brought us back in the match but their bowlers did a good job," Tendulkar said.
Having lost back-to-back matches, Tendulkar admitted that anything can happen in the T20 format of the game.
"You can find teams which were playing badly suddenly start doing well."
His teammate Rohit Sharma, who attended the post-match media conference, admitted that there was distinct lack of application on their part, on a wicket that wasn't conducive for batting.
"We did not apply ourselves. The track was dry and slow. It was not the perfect batting track. We played some poor shots," Rohit stated.
The talented batsman refused to buy the theory that Munaf Patel's last over cost them the match.
"I would not say so. We had bowled brilliantly till the 19th. There were no big overs and it was expected they would try and score in the last over. It can happen in Twenty20," he said.
Rohit however assured that there is no reason to panic although they have now lost back-to-back matches.
"There's no need for panic. We have five days time to discuss what went wrong and see to it that we don't make the same mistakes again. Our next game is against the Rajasthan Royals, on the 20th," he said.
He also praised the bowling of Ishant Sharma and said his superb five-wicket haul against Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the earlier part of the tournament has given him a lot of confidence.
"Ishant bowled well. He has got back his rhythm after his five-wicket haul against Kochi and he bowled in the right areas," Rohit quipped.
Asked about his inclusion in the Indian squad, Rohit said he was very happy but at present was focused on the IPL.
"When I heard the news of my inclusion in the team I felt happy. I am happy to be back. But at the moment, I am focused on IPL," he said.
