IPL 2021: ‘It was a complete team effort and credit to all the bowlers’ – Rohit Sharma elated with ‘great fightback’ against Kolkata Knight Riders
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Rohit Sharma
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) stumbled in the death to hand Mumbai Indians (MI) their first win of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. Needing 31 runs off the last 30 balls, KKR lost the game by 10 runs as they were able to score just 11 runs in the last three overs. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult were sensational at the death as they restricted the opposition with ease.
MI skipper Rohit Sharma is mighty impressed with the comeback his team pulled off. The destructive opener shares that KKR got off to great start and is delighted the way the bowling unit rose to the occasion. Sharma lauded the team effort and was all praises for man of the match Rahul Chahar.
“Was a great fightback, excellent fightback by each one of them. You don’t see a game like this often. Lots of confidence from this game and we move forward. KKR batted brilliantly in the powerplay. Rahul came and got us crucial wickets in the middle. Krunal bowling those overs at the end was vital as well. It was a complete team effort and credit to all the bowlers,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation.
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For the second game in a row, the Indians’ lower order failed to stand up to their reputation. Sharma shares that the pitch at Chepauk is tricky and a batsman needs to get set before going after the bowlers. He was mighty impressed with Suryakumar Yadav who scored a blistering half-century and was the pick of the MI batters.
“As batters you need to carry on. The trend in Chennai is you can’t hit from ball one. You have to plan before you go into bat. We were 15-20 runs short. Should have batted well at the fag end. We need to understand how we need to bat at the death but I don’t want to take anything away from the boys.“
“SKY has carried his form well. He plays fearless and it’s a positive sign for us in the first few overs. We need a guy there to do that. We have done the finishing part well as a team, just that we need to understand the surfaces here and adapt,” he adds.
“Rohit Sharma shows confidence in me to lift me up,” Rahul Chahar
After a dismal outing in the season opener, Rahul Chahar has bounced back with an inspiring performance. His four wickets proved to be key in taming the KKR batters. He scalped the prized wickets of Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathy, Nitish Rana and Eoin Morgan to bring KKR’s scoring to a screeching halt.
Chahar, who was adjudged the man of the match, shares that he was looking to back his skill and it all came together at Chepauk. He adds that skipper Rohit shows immense faith in him and that has come a long way in boosting his confidence. Chahar explains how he planned the wickets of Gill and Rana who were looking dangerous.
“There was pressure when they started well and a spinner had to pull it back. I enjoyed Tripathi’s wicket. I was confident in my abilities as I have been playing the IPL for 2-3 years. I know Gill well, and I also know he can’t keep hitting me out of the park on a regular basis. I can spin at 90 kph and that’s my strength.“
“I had an idea about Nitish walking down the track, so I bowled a flipper outside off on the last ball of my spell. My confidence is sometimes down, but Rohit shows confidence in me to lift me up. Mumbai Indians takes care of its players during the off season as well, and that’s why it is such a special franchise,” Rahul shared following the game.
Krunal Pandya was impressive too as he conceded only 13 runs in his four overs. All in all it was a brilliant bowling effort from MI to snatch the win from jaws of defeat.
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Anshuman Mahapatra
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