Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma said that they are happy as they will play against Sunrisers Hyderabad on the last day of the league stage. His comments came as he believes it would give them a clear idea about what needs to be done to qualify for the IPL 2021 playoffs.
Mumbai Indians still have a negative run-rate of -0.048 despite having an eight-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals. However, now they not only need to win against Sunrisers Hyderabad but also expect that KKR loses their match to Royals as well.
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While he was asked about this, Rohit Sharma said: “All eight teams are capable of beating each other. But the good thing is that KKR play before us, so we will know what to do. We had to come here and do what we had to do, which was to get the two points. It was a chance to improve our run rate as well. We got off to a flier, and we said there is a chance for us to up the run rate. It was the perfect game for us to do that.”
On the other hand, youngster Ishan Kishan has returned in form with a 50 off 25 balls and the skipper said that he didn’t tell them as to what he needs to do as well. “Kishan is playing after a couple of games, so we wanted him to take his time. I didn’t say anything to him [after he played a maiden]. All we wanted for him was to play his shots, which he did. When you are under the radar, it is important to do your job,” he said.
He said: “We had to come here and do what we had to do. The two points were very crucial for us. Once we had them bowled out for 90, we had a chance to finish it early. It is important to seize the game. We had to come out and bat freely. We had a chance to get the run rate in order. Was a perfect game for us. He (Kishan) is playing after a couple of games. I was there to take the risks. We know his ability. We wanted him to spend some time and that is exactly what he did. You got to ask Jimmy (James Pamment – Mumbai’s fielding coach) if he wants to do another one (pep talk). He loves talking to us, he’s a great character to have in the squad. Solid guy, keeps the atmosphere buzzing all the time in the squad group and that is something that is necessary.”
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“We were not playing well in terms of where we would have liked to, so you need those kind of talks from someone like him. It was important for us to just get going. That actually got all the guys going. When you’re under the radar, sometimes it’s important that you come out and do the job nice and quiet. We’ve been on and off this season. We’ve been doing well, we’ve been preparing well, it’s just that collectively we were not coming together but today was a good example. All the bowlers came together, used the conditions really well and then the batters finished it off. I feel in this tournament, any team is capable of beating anyone. KKR is playing before us and we will know exactly what to do,” Rohit Sharma concluded.
