"Mahela Jayawardene Made Scapegoat', Mumbai Indians Lacked Leadership": Ex-CSK Star

Mahela Jayawardene parted ways with Mumbai Indians© X (Twitter)

Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene's exit from the Mumbai Indians could just be the start of multiple changes for the franchise. MI, who have only managed two playoff qualifications in the last 6 seasons, are looking to rebuild and the sacrifice of coach Jayawardene was the first thing they could think of. However, former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Subramaniam Badrinath feels the Sri Lanka great was made the scapegoat by the team's management.

Badrinath, in a video on his YouTube channel, as quoted by Sportskeeda, said that Jayawardene couldn't have done more than he did as Mumbai Indians already had some of the finest players in the world, including Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma.

"He did brilliantly with MI, and they won three titles under him. But he has been made the scapegoat for their recent struggles. What more could he have done? They had such a great team. Could he have taught Hardik Pandya how to bowl or Rohit Sharma how to play the pull shot or Bumrah how to bowl yorkers? They are all proven performers," he said.

Badrinath even said that MI's biggest rivals, CSK, did the same with Stephen Fleming, who was also let go a few months ago.

"Whenever a franchise wants to make a change, the coach often becomes the scapegoat. The same thing happened with CSK and Stephen Fleming. Both Mahela and Fleming have been made scapegoats. Both CSK and MI have lacked leadership for the last few seasons."

As far as MI's future is concerned, Badrinath wants to see Rohit being named the captain while Rahul Dravid is his No. 1 choice for the coach's role

"If Rohit Sharma is made captain, Rahul Dravid might be a good option as MI's next head coach. They share a great relationship and helped India win the T20 World Cup," said Badrinath.

While Badrinath is right in suggesting that Jayawardene couldn't have taught the skills of the modern game to the likes of Rohit and Hardik, more than they already know, it's also true that the franchise has entered a phase where they need to go back to the drawing board.

With a new coach, a new philosophy, MI might be able to change their fortunes.

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