IPL 2025: Did excessive instructions from dugout break spirit of Mumbai Indians players?

Riding on captain Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten 87, Punjab Kings (PBKS) overcame Mumbai Indians' (MI) total of 203 by seven wickets in Qualifier 2 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

However, bowling coach Lasith Malinga and head coach Mahela Jayawardene have come under fire for their excessive involvement in the match from the dugout.

Former India spinner and MI star Harbhajan Singh feels that it was highly detrimental to their chances. The former India spinner took exception to the excessive passing of instructions from Jayawardene and Malinga as MI looked to control the innings against PBKS.

"Look at the Mumbai Indians dugout. When they were leaking runs, there was way too much involvement from the outside. Coaches are telling a bowler like Bumrah what to do and what not. A dressing room needs to remain calm and composed. Coaches should only give advice. Don’t show desperation. So somewhere I felt that when this happens way too much, it breaks their spirit," said Harbhajan.

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"Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, these are big players. And when they are playing, let them do what they need to do to get the right result for the team. They have won many trophies together. They needed to be shown a lot more faith, but the coaching staff time and again was interfering and gesturing with their hands," he added.