Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians captain and Player of the Match in Wednesday clash against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), said that his team’s first win in UAE was all about being “ruthless”.
Mumbai Indians defeated Dinesh Karthik-led KKR side by a comrehensive 49-run margin at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium. The MI captain himself led from the front and scored a brisk 54-ball 80 to break his team’s 6-match losing streak in the Gulf nation.
Rohit Sharma, was at this glorious best and was middling almost every delivery. He smashed as many as 6 sixes in the match and helped his team put a strong total of 195 runs on the board. Rohit while talking to Harsha Bhogle after the end of IPL 2020 match 5, admitted his love for pull shots and said he was satisfied to execute them to perfection.
Mumbai Indians bowers found their rhythm as well and the pace trio of Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah and James Pattinson shared 2 wickets each amongst themselves to derail a glittery KKR batting line-up. Sharma said that MI’s pace attack was strong as the management had prepared themselves for matches at Wankhede, the franchise’s original homeground.
Notably, IPL 2020 has been shifted to UAE because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Only two players from the squad that lost five matches here in 2014. It is all about executing plans, which we did. We were always ahead of the game, but it was all about being ruthless.
“I am pretty confident playing the pull shot, I love playing that shot, and I am pretty glad that it came off. Six months is a long time without cricket. I was looking to get some time in the middle. Didn’t come off in the first game, but glad it did today.
“My job becomes easy if you have such players on the team. It is not easy to play long innings here. Towards the end I just wanted to stay still and hit. Again it is a learning for all of us that once you ate in it is the responsibility of the set batsman to bat as deep as you can,” Rohit Sharma said in the post match presentation ceremony.
