IPL 2019 | MI has balanced squad for every condition, says Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma has mentioned that Mumbai Indians has a balanced squad for every condition. MI defeated Chennai Super Kings in the first qualifier on Tuesday which has taken their win tally against the three-time champions to three out of three in this season of the Indian Premier League.
Mumbai Indians have all their bases covered with fine all-rounders, aggressive batsmen, talented spinners as well as a potent pace battery. This has enabled them to thrive on the flat track like their home ground of Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai as well as a slow track like Chennai’s Chepauk. Like in the previous two games in this season of the Indian Premier League, MI defeated Chennai Super Kings for the third time in the first qualifier on Tuesday. The first win was in a home game followed by two wins in CSK’s fortress, and the skipper Rohit Sharma feels it is possible because of their balanced squad.
“We've got a balanced squad. Whatever the conditions are, we've got the squad for them. Have the balance we need on that kind of pitch. Even the batters are confident in what they want to execute. That's probably one of the reasons we've had some success in Chennai because we play the conditions well and understand the conditions well,” he said at the post-match presentation ceremony, reported Cricbuzz.
The three-time champions from Mumbai will play in their fifth IPL final on May 12, and the skipper was delighted to get a four-day break.
“Was a great effort. Great feeling to know that we'll be playing the finals. Three days now in which we can switch off before the final. Much needed break,” Rohit expressed.
MI restricted the CSK batsmen to just 131 runs as the spinners wreaked havoc by dismissing the top three within the powerplay. Both the pacers and tweakers tied the batsmen to the ground and the MS Dhoni-led side failed to up the run rate in the entire innings. The skipper felt that it was important to restrict CSK to a small total as batting was a challenging task given CSK’s spin trio and the turning wicket.
“I knew we have the bowlers to restrict them. Have the confidence in our batters as well. Was important to restrict them to as little as possible, because it can get tricky against their quality spinners,” explained the 32-year-old.
Rohit dropped Mitchell McClenaghan and went with Haryana off-spinner Jayant Yadav, who was only playing his second match this season. This move surprised many but the skipper felt that a finger spinner would be more effective.
“Was a call we had to make, knowing they have quite a few right-handers in their squad. Jayant is a quality bowler. Thought that a finger spinner can be more effective than a wristie (wrist spinner),” he asserted.
Dhoni has been in excellent form this season and even the Tuesday’s encounter looked no different as he smashed two consecutive sixes off Lasith Malinga in the 19th over. However, Jasprit Bumrah bowled consistent yorkers and did not give away any boundary in the final over despite over-stepping in the first ball. The skipper credited his bowlers for their outstanding effort.
“Knew MS was going to be crucial towards the end. We had plans laid out. When you restrict a team like that under 140, it looks very good. Credit to our bowlers for executing that,” said the India vice-captain.
Suryakumar Yadav smashed an unbeaten 71 whereas all the other batsmen struggled for a major part of their innings. The skipper was all praise for the Mumbai batsman and reckoned that he is a fine player of spin bowling.
“He's probably one of our best batsmen against spin. We knew the spin threat they possess will be a huge factor. Surya plays spin very well. I've seen him at close quarters. The shots he plays behind the wicket, those are not easy shots. Always knew he was going to come good at some stage,” Rohit signed off.
