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The five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) have not won a single Indian Premier League (IPL) title since 2020, and the head coach Mahela Jayawardene believes that having 10 teams in the competition makes it tougher and they need to keep fighting.
Addressing the media during a press conference on the eve of the mouth-watering clash against Delhi Capitals, Jayawardene said, "I think 10 teams make it an even harder competition. But I think in the last five years, we were in the playoffs, if I am not mistaken, two times. So that means we had our opportunities in just that last bit." MI have failed to qualify for the playoffs in the 2021, 2022 and 2024 seasons and finished in fourth place in the 2023 and 2025 seasons. The team ended at the bottom of the points table in the 2022 and 2024 seasons. The five-time champions have started their 2026 campaign with a dominant win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as they chased down a target of 221 runs, which is their highest target chased and won in IPL history. This was also the first occasion in 14 years that they won their season-opening match after 2012. "You have to take one game at a time and go through the processes. I think as a team, we know that we have done well consistently over a period of time. And we just need to continue to trust that process and keep playing good cricket. And we will get there. How we have been successful is by doing the same thing. So I don't see why we need to do something different," stated Jaywardene. The former Sri Lanka legend batter believes that MI players need to have the winning attitude on and off the field and be a better team, and after that results will take care of themselves. "As long as we keep pushing ourselves to the limit on each and every game and have the same attitude on and off the field to be a better team, a better franchise. I think the results will take care of themselves rather than putting ourselves under pressure," said the head coach. The 48-year-old also targeted other IPL franchises for not winning a single IPL title yet and said, "Beginning of the season, saying we haven't won it for five years. But there are some teams that haven't won it forever as well, right? So I am not rubbing it in. But with all due respect, we just thought that we will just trust our process and work on ourselves on how we need to go about it." "We want to win it every year if possible, but it's not possible. Teams are tougher; they are better. So we need to keep fighting," Jayawardene concluded. (ANI)
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