Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma, after a six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2017 Qualifier 2, was a relieved man. The skipper felt there is no shame in reaching the final the hard way and lauded team effort.
“We have been really working hard. We don’t shy away from going into the finals the hard way. Today was the perfect day. Gives you a lot of confidence, bowlers set the day for us. Taking wickets at regular intervals and keeping the score under control,” said Rohit at post-match presser.
On the decision to give the new ball to Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit said, “It’s not me, something we have been talking about. I just go and execute what I’ve been told. I rely on my gut feeling as well. It’s very necessary to keep changing.”
Mumbai now face Pune in the final and the team doesn’t enjoy a good run against the Steve Smith led-unit this season. Rohit is aware of the same but feels it’s just one more hurdle. “We’ve not had a great history against (Rising Pune Supergiant). Just one more hurdle,” he concluded.
Man of the match Karn Sharma, who returned with figures of 4/16, said he had worked very hard and was happy that it’s paying off. After a disappointing last season, the leggie is happy to wickets for his team.
“My bowling is come out well, it wasn’t great last year but I have worked hard on it. This was an important game for the team as we had to qualify for the final, so I just tried to get wickets for my team and bowl them out quickly. It’s a good thing that I am helping out the team.”
Gautam Gambhir was not pleased with the batting and felt too many early wickets hurt them in this match. The skipper however lauded the group for a professional display throughout the season.
“We discussed after the last game that we couldn’t get 160-170, we needed 140. Lost too many wickets early on. 107 is not a great score unless you can get the opposition all out. We had to be up for it. Had we had wickets, we could have targetted one or two bowlers. Proud, because we put everything we could. We had two opportunities, we missed it. We could have had two cracks at the top two. The boys were professional through the season.”
Rohit Sharma said that Mumbai Indians are not dependent on one individual. (Source: IPL)
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