Hyderabad: With the third IPL title under his belt as captain, Rohit Sharma is understandably elated. His Mumbai Indians had turned the match on its head after giving themselves just about some runs to bowl at Rising Pune Supergiant in Sunday’s final.
Rohit put the success down to allround performance by his teammates. “We’ve never relied on one individual to win us the game. Today was the perfect example. The bowling unit came in together. Again, we have got a few youngsters, a few inexperienced players and a few legends in our bowling unit. It was a combination of both. We mixed it up nicely,” he smiled.
Excerpts:
On the team composition: Getting your combinations right and going on to the field is the most critical part of winning the tournament. Individual brilliance can win you a few games, but what are required to win this championship are team unity, team work and intelligence. We spoke about it at the start of the tournament. If you look at the first two titles we won, we probably had one batsman in the top five highest run-getters. We didn’t have even one batsman in the top-five this time which is a little bit sad, but that goes to show that different individuals have come up at different times and taken up responsibility. That is the hallmark of this team, especially this year.
On batting first: In a big game, it’s good to put runs on the board. The history at this place is such that there have been 200 runs scored in an innings and also just 140. So if you don’t bat well, you won’t make a big target.
On the low total: I don’t think we applied ourselves too well. Our target was between 140 and 160. If we had tried to overreach to 180, then you could’ve been bowled out for 120. So our talk was that we try and make 140 so we may even get to 160.
One-hundred and sixty on this wicket would’ve been a match-winning score. When you are playing on a slow pitch, it’s important to believe you can defend any target when you are fielding. So that was the talk when we came into the change room after our poor batting display. The guys knew the challenge but they rose to the occasion.
On early misfields: The first 10 overs we were a little sloppy in the field but then these things can happen... sometimes you are so nervous you try and overdo it. During the break we had after six overs, we just got together and asked everyone to be calm. You can’t come and play your shots; it’s such a slow wicket. We always had that belief that things can change anytime. When you are defending such a low target, it’s so important for the fielders to try and create some magic - taking a brilliant catch or stopping those crucial runs. We wanted to add 20 runs extra with our fielding.
On the strategy: We had to stay in the game for 20 overs. It didn’t matter if they created a partnership for a wicket here and there can change things. And that’s exactly what happened. We squeezed in and spinners came in and bowled those dot balls, created pressure, which made them play the big shots. That’s where they made mistakes.
On the Pandya brothers Krunal and Hardik: I think they have something special in them. When you see them on the field, they are so excited to play the game. They want to contribute in some or the other way. It’s just not about bowling or batting; they contribute in fielding as well which is such a critical part in this format. Krunal has become mature now. Last year he was nervous to start with. Now he knows he is a core member of the squad. He just goes out and plays freely. He has got no pressure. Of course, if you drop the catch, there is a chance of coming back and bowling a good over. That’s exactly what he did.
