Playing It My Way: My Autobiography (43 page)

I thoroughly enjoyed playing for the Mumbai Indians. Just after the IPL was launched in late 2007, Mukesh Ambani, the owner, told me that he would like me to captain the team and I readily agreed. As skipper, I made it very clear to my team-mates that all I wanted from them was total commitment on the field, and that’s what we tried to do in my six seasons in the IPL.

It took some time to get used to how the auction worked. I was in Australia when the first one took place in February 2008 and had provided the management with a list of players I wanted for every position; in fact, I had provided multiple options. But the team we ended up with didn’t have quite the balance I’d hoped for and our first season wasn’t particularly successful. It also didn’t help that I wasn’t able to play the first seven games because of injury.

Happily, one of the players we did manage to pick was Lasith Malinga. I was keen to have him at any cost as I was sure he would be a handy option for this format, and he has proved to be an excellent performer in Twenty20. Mind you, no one bowls quite like Malinga. With his low, slingy action, it’s almost as if the umpire becomes the sightscreen. I remember an occasion in Sri Lanka when Malinga was bowling to me with a white ball and I had to ask the umpire to remove his white hat, because I was losing the ball against it! Unfortunately for us, Malinga wasn’t able to play the entire first season owing to a knee injury.

After the Mumbai Indians failed to make the semi-finals in the first two seasons, we were determined to put in a better performance in 2010. Mrs Nita Ambani was personally involved from the beginning of the season and this time we began our preparations weeks before the season started. We had a two-day bonding camp at the Waterstones Club in Mumbai and enjoyed getting to know each other. Mrs Ambani was present on both days and the players enjoyed interacting with her. The youngsters in the team mixed with the senior players and I remember that Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan and I were asked a series of questions by the other players about our careers and our lives as Indian cricketers. It was interesting to learn that Zaheer found it very difficult to adjust to the Mumbai lifestyle after coming from the relatively smaller town of Ahmednagar and I was particularly fascinated by Harbhajan’s stories about his childhood while growing up in Punjab. We played a variety of sports, including table tennis, squash and water polo, but no cricket.

The camp worked brilliantly and that season we finally did ourselves justice and were the team to beat throughout the competition. Unfortunately, I got injured while catching a ball in the slips in the semi-final, splitting the webbing between my fingers on my right hand. I had to have six stitches and couldn’t hold the bat properly and most people who saw the injury felt I wouldn’t make the final against the Chennai Super Kings, led by MS Dhoni. I was determined to take part, however.

On the morning of the final I tried having an injection to numb the injured area, which I thought would help me hold the bat. I had also had some special gloves made, with added protection for the injury, but it seemed that the pain was going to be too much. However, the plan did not work as well as I’d hoped and after the area was numbed I found I had no idea where my fingers were. I actually went back to the hotel, disappointed that even after having the excruciatingly painful injection the situation had not improved. In the end, though, I managed to play in the final, despite being in considerable pain. In the gap between the semi-final and the final I had also visited a doctor in Sri Lanka, who said he could get me ready for the final and that I would have to take the medicine he prescribed twice a day. However, as a side effect I would not be able to sleep properly for the first three days, but once the medicine had run its course I would sleep a lot. He was right. The medicine did help and I did eventually play in the final – but, as warned, I wasn’t able to sleep for three nights and then slept for three days!

In the warm-up before the match, the umpires walked up to me to check that I was aware of what I was getting into: because I was carrying an injury suffered before the game started, I would not be allowed a substitute. But I had considered all the consequences and was ready to pull myself through the pain to try and win the coveted IPL trophy.

Twice in the match the ball hit my injured hand. The first time was when I was fielding at fine leg. On the second occasion I was standing at cover when Suresh Raina, the left-handed middle-order bat, played a full-blooded cover drive that came to me in a flash. I instinctively stopped the ball and realized soon afterwards that my stitches had burst. At the changeover my hand was bleeding. I ignored it and went out to bat wearing the special gloves, which had no gap between the middle and index fingers. Wearing these, I could at least get a grip on the bat, and I managed to make 48. Unfortunately for us, the IPL trophy continued to elude us as we lost too many wickets in a heap and fell 22 runs short of the target.

A lot was written about the decision to bat Kieron Pollard at number seven during the run chase in that 2010 final. It was a decision taken by the management based on my input and the reasoning was clear. As long as the spinners were bowling, we wanted the likes of Ambati Rayudu and Saurabh Tiwary, both of whom were good players of spin, to be out in the middle. Pollard could then come in and take on the faster bowlers. In hindsight, however, I believe that sending Pollard up the order would have been the better option. It was a mistake and I have no hesitation in admitting it.

We had another good competition the following season and made the play-offs again. I got my first and only Twenty20 hundred against the Kochi Tuskers team. In fact, in those two seasons, I was consistent at the top of the order and there was talk about me playing for the Indian team for the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean in April–May 2010. However, the thought never crossed my mind. By early 2010 the Indian Twenty20 team had a settled look to it and it would not have been right to reconsider my decision not to play international Twenty20 cricket for just one tournament.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experiences in Twenty20 with the Mumbai Indians. The overwhelming sense of positivity that surrounds the team made playing for them a real pleasure. I also enjoyed being captain in the first four seasons, but I am glad that I then handed over the captaincy to Harbhajan, a decision that caused a stir in the media at the time. The fact was that 2011–12 was one of my toughest years in cricket and by the time of the fifth season of the IPL, which started on 4 April 2012, I was feeling mentally drained. I was in no position to cope with the stress of captaincy and just wanted to continue as a batsman. It was for this reason that I asked the owners to consider giving the captaincy to Harbhajan. I would be there to help and offer advice to him on and off the field, especially because he and I had always shared a great camaraderie while playing for India.

I have known Bhajji since 1994, when he first bowled a few doosras to me during practice in Chandigarh, and we became very good friends when he broke into the Indian team against Australia in Bangalore in 1998. Bhajji had already shown his mettle as captain of the Mumbai Indians in the Champions League Twenty20 in October 2011, which I missed through injury, when he did brilliantly to lead the team to the title.

I knew that 2013 was always going to be my last year in the IPL. Dedicating three more years to the IPL as a player after I turned 40 in April 2013 was never an option. I was desperate to win the title, having come so close in 2010. We had a good unit and all the players were fit going into the tournament. Ricky Ponting was now captain, John Wright was coach, and Anil Kumble had joined us as mentor, making it a very strong support unit.

I started the season with a disappointing run-out but batted well from the middle of the tournament. Ricky, however, was not in the best of form and he decided to drop himself for a few games and hand the captaincy to Rohit, who was batting well. Rohit did a very good job as skipper and the bowling too came together nicely, with Malinga, Mitchell Johnson, Harbhajan and Pragyan Ojha consistently doing well for us. But just when my own form was peaking, I sustained the injury that brought my IPL career to an end.

We were playing the Sunrisers Hyderabad on 13 May 2013 and were in control, having scored 91 off twelve overs, with the loss of just one wicket. The asking rate was slightly over ten runs an over and with nine wickets in hand we had every reason to feel confident. I was starting to accelerate and hit the first ball of the thirteenth over for six over long on. Just as I was completing the shot, I heard a click in my left hand and then felt excruciating pain. I immediately called for the physio, but massage didn’t do any good. I was finding it impossible to hold the bat, let alone play a shot. It was a critical time in the match and there was no way I could keep playing on and waste balls in the process. The only option was to retire hurt.

I had a series of scans, which showed inflammation of the tendons and fluid accumulation in the hand. The doctors said it would take a minimum of three weeks to heal and it was clear my campaign was over. Though I wasn’t able to play, I decided to travel with the team. I bowled long stints in the nets and did what I could to help the boys with their preparation. It was hard to sit out for the final, though, particularly because I was getting into a good rhythm, but it was an incredible feeling when the Mumbai Indians won the 2013 IPL trophy in front of a packed Eden Gardens crowd in Kolkata. To cap it all, my team-mates very kindly said that the triumph was for me.

It was during the final that I was asked in an interview if I would play the first game of the next IPL season in front of my home crowd at the Wankhede. It was clear to me that I would not be able to and I found myself saying so. I hadn’t actually planned to announce my retirement from the IPL and it happened on the spur of the moment. Anjali was at the ground and a number of journalists went on to ask her what she thought of me announcing my retirement from the IPL. She was a little taken aback at what I’d said, though she knew very well that season six was going to be my last.

While I was very sorry not to play for Mumbai in the last five games of IPL season six, I will look back with fondness at my IPL career, which came to an end with me hitting a six off the last ball I faced!

Play-off stage

Qualifier 1. Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians at Delhi. 21 May 2013

Chennai Super Kings 192/1 (20/20 ov); Mumbai Indians 144 (18.4/20 ov)

Chennai Super Kings won by 48 runs

Eliminator. Rajasthan Royals v Sunrisers Hyderabad at Delhi. 22 May 2013

Sunrisers Hyderabad 132/7 (20/20 ov); Rajasthan Royals 135/6 (19.2/20 ov)

Rajasthan Royals won by 4 wickets (with 4 balls remaining)

Qualifier 2. Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals at Kolkata. 24 May 2013

Rajasthan Royals 165/6 (20/20 ov); Mumbai Indians 169/6 (19.5/20 ov)

Mumbai Indians won by 4 wickets (with 1 ball remaining)

Final. Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians at Kolkata. 26 May 2013

Mumbai Indians 148/9 (20/20 ov); Chennai Super Kings 125/9 (20/20 ov)

Mumbai Indians won by 23 runs

Having beaten Australia 2–0 at home in October–November 2008, we were optimistic about the home series against England in December. Gary Kirsten, our coach, had instilled a sense of confidence in the players and all we needed to do now was sustain the momentum after the retirements of Anil and Sourav, two of the best players to represent India.

England’s tour started with a seven-match series of ODIs. I did not play in the first three because I was suffering from another elbow problem, this time what is known as a ‘golfer’s elbow’. It troubled me throughout the season, but not enough to miss a Test match, and it actually turned out to be one of the best seasons of my career. My good form extended into the next season, and I was nominated the ICC’s Cricketer of the Year for 2009–10.

After making only 11 in my comeback match in Bangalore, I was more satisfied with a fifty in the fifth game at Cuttack on 26 November, which we won comfortably, taking a 5–0 series lead. Shortly after the game we heard that some sort of gang war had started in Mumbai. We were deeply perturbed by what we saw on the news channels in the dressing room. It was obviously much more than a gang war and the live footage left us shocked. Our thoughts and prayers went out to the people who were caught up in the catastrophe.

Most of the players watched what was happening on television till late into the night and it became clear to us that India was essentially under attack. It was the most barbaric of acts and what was happening in the streets of Mumbai was shocking. These were places that were part of our daily existence. It was devastating to see flames coming out of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, one of India’s iconic landmarks. I anxiously called Anjali to check that she and all our friends and loved ones were safe.