Mumbai Indians won the 12th edition of Indian Premier League against Chennai Super Kings on May 12. With this win, they won the title for the fourth time. However, before the final over, Rohit Sharma was in a dilemma whether to give the responsibility to Hardik Pandya or Lasith Malinga. But he backed Malinga for his experience. Though Malinga gave away 42 runs in his three overs so far and with Shane Watson at the crease, who had smashed 20 runs off him in the 16th over, Rohit Sharma kept the faith on him. However, Malinga won the game for his side, giving away seven runs and dismissed Shardul Thakur off the final ball while two needed for a win.
“Malinga is a champion, he has been doing it for many years for us. I was thinking of Hardik Pandya for the final over, but I wanted to back someone who has been in that situation for us before, and Malinga has been there many times,” Rohit Sharma said.
“I remember Mitchell Johnson defended 10 runs when we won here last time in 2017, so yes sometimes you go with instinct and sometimes you back the experienced players who have done it before. At that time, both teams were under pressure whether it is the bowler or batsman are both under pressure. But it could have gone either way to be honest. I have played with Shardul Thakur before and know where he wants to hit so we decided together (Malinga and me) that we would go for the slower ball option,” he further added.
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After the first half, everyone was hoping that Chennai would win because Mumbai had put up a low total.
“We knew in the first half that this would be close game after we could not get the best total. We were all prepared for it. It was just about holding nerves at crucial times in the game. Our bowling, in particular, was excellent, at different stages in the game, the bowlers put their hands up and brought us back,” Rohit expressed.
However, the captain said it happened because of their study about the weakness of their opponents.
“Throughout the tournament, we played some good cricket which was the reason we qualified at the top. We planned to split the tournament into two parts and our plans fell into place for which we got the just rewards. We study the teams and the players well and that helps us with our strategy and planning. We are very good at what we do here. Not only the oppositions, it is important to understand the venue and the conditions as that helps a lot of in the planning. I’m really happy that eventually, we crossed the line victorious,” he shared.
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As the IPL has finished, now the focus shifts to the upcoming World Cup and he expressed that IPL has helped them to prepare for the mega event.
“The IPL is a great platform for all our players to get into form before the World Cup, even though it is the T20 format it is good that our players are in form ahead of the World Cup,” Rohit Sharma signed off.
