IPL 2020 | Glad to have played this innings against KKR after a long break, asserts Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma played a flawless innings at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, scoring 80 runs by himself and then forming an important 90-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav. The duo turned out to be the eventual differentiator and Rohit’s innings ensured Mumbai have a set template to fall back on going forward. This was also Rohit’s first proper outing since he was ruled out from the New Zealand tour mid-way and failed in the earlier encounter against Chennai Super Kings and that’s why the innings has given him the maximum happiness.

“It was all about how we executed our plans today, we were in good positions and it was all about being ruthless. The wicket was good and dew was coming down. I back myself to play the pull shots and have practiced quite a bit. Pretty happy with the performance of my squad. All my shots were good (laughs), can't pick one. I haven't played a lot of cricket in a long time; it didn't come out well in the first innings but glad to have done it tonight,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation.

With the Mumbai Indians having a rusty record in the UAE - they had lost six out of six games ahead of this encounter - there was a lot of pressure on the side. Considering Mumbai had their plans set up according to Wankhede Stadium but moving to the UAE, threw a spanner in their works. But the dew on the surface meant batting became comparatively easier for them but the skipper thanked the pacers for adapting so quickly to alien surfaces.

“We never knew that the IPL would happen in the UAE so we wanted a pace attack that was strong for the Wankhede. But the ball was seaming around for the first six overs over here as well. We haven't played much with Trent Boult and Pattinson, but it was good that we were on the same page,” Rohit added. 

“It takes a lot out of you to play in these conditions. Maybe I was a bit tired in the end and it was a lesson for us that one set batsmen needs to bat till the end. We've seen it in the past and that's what I tried to do.”