With an eye on the future, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma on Tuesday said they are looking to try out as many players as possible before concluding what has been a forgettable campaign for the five-time IPL champions.
MI suffered their 10th defeat of the ongoing season after losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad by three runs here.
Chasing 194 for victory, the MI innings ended at 190 for seven.
Asked about the Mumbai bowling at the presentation ceremony, Rohit said, “We wanted to try a few things keeping one eye on the future. We wanted to try out certain guys to bowl under pressure in certain situations of the game.
“I thought they batted pretty well to get to 193 but the way we pulled things back at the back end was a great effort.”
When asked about the season’s last game, the MI skipper said, “For us it’s pretty simple. We just want to tick off the boxes, finish off on a high note if possible.
“We will try everything we can from our side to put our best foot forward in the last game. If there is an opportunity to try out some more guys, we will look to do that too.”
Rohit (48) was at his effortless best and looked set for a big score. He gave a solid start to Mumbai’s chase alongside Ishan Kishan (43), with whom he shared a 95-run opening stand.
The two plundered 17 runs in the ninth over bowled by Malik, with the pacer guilty of bowling two no balls and a wide.
But two overs later, Kane Williamson’s decision to bowl Washington Sundar (1/36) paid dividends as Rohit holed out to Jagadeesha Suchith in the deep. Then, Tim David smashed his way to 46 off just 18 balls before being run out as MI fell short.
“Till about the second to last over, I thought we had it. Unfortunate run out of Tim David but we thought we were very much in the game till that run out. Even 19 runs to go with two overs, you would back yourself to get that but unfortunately we couldn’t do it.
