IPL 2022, RR vs MI | Real potential came out with the ball tonight, remarks Rohit Sharma

Suryakumar Yadav batted at No. 3 for the first time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 for Mumbai Indians against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Saturday. He was back at his fluent best again, scoring 51 off 39 balls, to help MI chase down 159 against a potent RR bowling unit. In the process, the Rohit Sharma-led side won their first match in the ongoing edition on ninth attempt.

Overall, it was a collective batting performance by MI. Tilak Varma and Ishan Kishan chipped in with handy contributions, scoring 30-ball 35 and 18-ball 26 respectively, to snatch the win. Tim David played a breezy cameo as well, hitting an unbeaten nine-ball 20, laced with two fours and one six.

But Rohit, the MI skipper, credited his bowlers more than their batsmen for restricting RR to a below-par total. He mentioned their success in regular intervals made the difference between the two sides.

"Real potential came out today, with the ball specially. They kept applying the pressure. If you keep taking wickets, it's going to be difficult for them, we did that perfectly today," Rohit told at the post-match presentation.

"This is the team we played in the first couple of games except few bowling changes. When you have a season like that, you are not sure of your combination. We played very well, bowlers came together, batters did the job as well."

MI's left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya Singh impressed with the ball on his debut match in IPL. He returned excellent figures of 4-0-19-1, while Riley Meredith returned 2-24. Hrithik Shokeen bowled well too until he was hit four sixes on the trot by Jos Buttler. 

Despite the positive result, MI remained at the bottom of the points table. RR, on the other hand, are placed second with six wins in nine matches.