Desired result did not come due to poor 'structuring' of line-up: Mahela Jayawardene

Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene on Thursday admitted that "lack of execution" in close games during this IPL season has been due to the poor "structuring" of line-up, putting them at the bottom of the 10-team table. Mumbai Indians are already out of the IPL having lost eight games on the bounce before logging home their first points. But more importantly, the critics have been vindicated about five-time champions' poor auction strategy. The mediocre bunch of domestic players like Basil Thampi, Jaydev Unadkat, Murugan Ashwin along with purely sentimental retentions like Kieron Pollard and an insane bid of INR 15.25 crore for Ishan Kishan have all contributed to MI's downfall.

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Young Mumbai Indians batter Tilak Varma, who has been one of the finds of the IPL season, said getting the cap from skipper Rohit Sharma gave him the confidence to perform well.

"For a team to work, it is not about just one individual, it is about a team executing a game plan.The way we have structured our line-up this season, that is something we have lacked," Jayawardene said when asked about Rohit Sharma's poor run of form in the nine games. "At the same time, we have not had those finishers at the back-end," the head coach added. "It is about getting most of your guys playing good cricket on (in) a game and having that consistency going through. That is something we have lacked," Jayawardene said ahead of their game against Gujarat Titans. Not closing out games has been one of MI's banes this season.

"This has been one of those seasons where we have not been able to win those close matches and we have not been able to ruthlessly finish games off. "And at