Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma said that his team has not relied on individuals this season, and that everyone stepping up at different times when it was needed has been the hallmark of the tournament for them so far.
Speaking after his side’s thrilling Super Over win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium which confirmed their place in the playoffs, Rohit said, “Individuals can win you one or two games, but if you want to win the tournament, everyone needs to come together. That is the hallmark of this particular squad this year. Anybody, at different stages has responded to situations.
“Whether it’s Rahul Chahar, or Quinton (de Kock), a lot of the guys have shared responsibility. Because we don’t believe in individuals winning games on their own on too many occasions. We want everyone to come and chip in with performances, and make sure that we get through.
“In 2017 when we won the IPL trophy, we qualified with two games to spare. I can’t compare every season because there are new players that come in, and your combinations and dynamic changes. What we’ve done well this year is responded to the pressure situations. A lot of the games that we have won, we won because we handled the pressure really well.”
Rohit also explained his decision to bat first in the match, pointing towards the conditions in the second half in most matches as the reason for doing so.
“Look, this year conditions have been such that sometimes the ball starts spinning in the second half because of dew. For example, when we were chasing 170 here against RCB, despite scoring 70 runs in the first six overs, we struggled to chase it and only went over the line in the last over.
