IPL 2022: All-rounder Tim David says Mumbai Indians players will start playing better as ‘team’ soon

Tim David, who was bought for Rs 8.25 crore at the IPL 2022 auction in Bengaluru in February, is yet to get going like the rest of the Mumbai Indians team in the tournament so far.

Mumbai Indians all-rounder Tim David. (Photo: Mumbai Indians)

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians haven’t had the best of starts in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. Two games have resulted in two defeats for the side so far in the tournament.

Now, MI will take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their third match of IPL 2022 as they move to MCA Stadium in Pune on Wednesday (April 6). Singapore-born Australian all-rounder Tim David has also had a similar slow start with the MI in his first season of IPL.

David, who was bought for Rs 8.25 crore at the IPL 2022 auction in Bengaluru in February, is yet to get going like the rest of the team in the tournament so far.

The all-rounder said that he is benefitting from the experience of captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Mahela Jayawardene at MI. Rohit and Jayawardene are widely acknowledged as among the best thinkers of the game and their advice to David has been more about the finer aspects, such as in-game tactics and maximizing David’s own skill-sets.

“He has been a fun captain. I’ve only played two games with him, so just getting used to playing with him. Getting used to playing with lots of guys in the team, but we’ll find our feet and start playing better as a team as the tournament goes on. But it’s been good fun so far. (The advice) has been just about how to be able to find my skills best in the game and to help the team,” David said ahead of the IPL 2022 match against KKR.

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“Mahela has been good. Again the same, just about preparing to play in Indian conditions. Learning that comes up in the IPL with different players, and how my skills can be best suited to play in games,” David added.

The Australian has big boots of Kieron Pollard to fill in MI as the West Indian all-rounder has been a colossal performer. “I think Polly’s played over ten years in the IPL, so there’s a lot of experience there,” David said. “I think that happens over time naturally. You can’t just get all of it like, on a notebook straightaway. It just happens with different questions here or there, different situations, different experiences at training and trying to run some ideas past him. Just get little bits here and there and hopefully, I can gain some of those experiences from him, and maybe some that I can try and use in a game or that I can add to my game that can be successful.”

Next up for Mumbai Indians are Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders. “They’re a strong side, every team is strong in the IPL. We will do our analysis on the players and on the team. But I think it’s about sticking to our processes most importantly. If we play our best game, then we’ve got to believe that’s capable of winning,” David said.