24 hours have passed. It hurts. There was hope of us pulling off a 2023 after our come-from-behind qualification into the play-offs. There was hope of a turnaround. It wasn’t to be. MLC 2024 ended in disappointment. It started off in emphatic style at Morrisville, in a repeat clash last year’s final against Seattle Orcas, with a repeat of the result too. It went on to a DLS-inflicted disappointment. Then came more rain. We moved to Texas. But whether it was Rashid Khan adding feather after feather to his already-decorated hat with his stellar performances with both bat and ball, or it was Nicholas Pooran shedding his natural attacking strokeplay for a measured clutch knock in the must-win last league game against LA Knight Riders, or it was Kieron Pollard rolling back the years with his 6,6,6 to seal the game, or it was Nosthush Kenjige’s superb opening burst against San Francisco Unicorns, or Monank Patel’s mature knocks against Texas Super Kings, or it was debutant Heath Richards nearly pulling off a last-over miracle, there certainly have been enough memories for us to celebrate. Let’s give it some time. When the disappointment withers, what will remain is pride, the pride we have in this side. This is MI city, this is MI team, we are MI New York. 

Not the finish MI New York would have wanted to their MLC 2024 campaign, crashing out in the Eliminator against the Texas Super Kings. As Head Coach Robbie Peterson came out for the post-match press conference, he looked back at the campaign, had advice to give, and threw some light on the reasons behind the team combination. Excerpts.. Reflections on the gameYou can’t sit and blame our domestic players. All of us, including the international players weren’t consistent enough across this campaign. The players will be disappointed that couldn’t make the final. We showed some glimpses. We could never tie all the skills in one game unfortunately. Credit to TSK, they played very well. Credit to Faf (du Plessis) as well, his captaincy was outstanding tonight. Devon Conway was the rock as he always is for them in this campaign. A lot of learnings have taken place in the last two years. We would like to win every competition but sometimes these events don’t allow you to slip up. We will come back stronger next year. On Monank Patel doing well in the middle-order You have to be adaptable in T20 cricket. Monank got his two fifties coming in the middle order in this tournament.  He is the type of player who can use his experience and leadership. We thought responsibility would fall on his shoulders when he moved down the order with the skillset he possesses. In games you try and counter the opposition, and sometimes you try and send a power-player. No reflection towards his skillset, he played very well in the middle-order and he should consider that in the future. Whether rain made it easier to bat in the second inningsThe rain played a little bit of a role. We won’t use that as an excuse, but we didn’t field well enough. There were seven chances with the run-outs, catches that we should have taken. We still created opportunities to stretch that game. One of those things where you are on the wrong side of the weather. On the pressures of playing in the El ClasicoEverybody knows the rivalry between the MI and the CSK franchise will always be there around the globe. There is a sense of excitement for the guys. There’s a different edge leading to these games. It is a privilege to be involved in these games. Every time you participate, you want to do well. It gives players a lot of joy. Thoughts behind changing the opening combination Sometimes you cannot predict someone’s form. Franchise cricket is pretty ruthless if you don’t get off to a good start. We just felt that Shayan (Jahangir) did well for us last year and we needed a bit of impetus with Dewald Brevis. No reflection on Ruben (Clinton). We just felt that was the combination which would serve us well in the game. They are talented players who will contribute in the future at some point in the MLC. Sometimes tournaments don’t work out well for individuals. They can hold their heads up. They worked hard, they tried hard. They were still great team players off the field. A lot for them to reflect upon and improve. On Steven Taylor and his formWe look at him as a batsman, and off-spin is his hobby. He is drafted as a batsman. His currency is runs at the end of the day. He was probably a bit short there. A lot of conversation on how he can improve has happened behind the scenes. On what the local players need to do to improveFrom a batting perspective, it is going to be tough when you are not facing high quality fast bowling week in and week out, like guys from Australia, South Africa, West Indies. It’s always going to be the challenge for local players. There are guys bowling at serious pace, and it takes a bit of time to adjust to that. It’s not nice to face, so it takes a bit of courage. You’re only going to get better when you face it at training. That’s something the domestic batters don’t have in terms of preparation when they play in the Minor League. They’ve got the taste of it now and there are alternate ways to train for it. Hopefully they can implement it in their training and as MLC progresses, we will see these guys get better and better. 

It’s been a fairytale of a journey. We started off with a win, just were winless for five games in a row, and then with our backs to the wall, in a game where we didn’t just have to win, but win big, we were absolutely clinical to get our campaign back on track. So with that sorted, the celebrations done, we have Texas Super Kings to deal with next. From the family of El Clasicos, we beat them in the Qualifier last time around. We have the league stage defeat to avenge too, remember the one where Rashid Khan and Monank Patel put up a 110-run stand for the ages?Things seem eerily similar to 2023, where we just scraped through into the playoffs, only to turn on our A game and romp through to bag the title. The first half is done. It’s time for the second. It’s time for the climax. What: Texas Super Kings vs MI New York When: July 24, 2024, 7:30pm local time | July 25, 2024, 6:00am IST Where: Grand Prarie Stadium, Dallas What to expect: Big game, big stage, and the unearthing of heroes. This is where the MI New York mentality comes out, where we play like Defending Champions!