Rohit Sharma currently has to be the most popular figure in Mumbai after he shouldered them to a third Indian Premier League title defeating Rising Pune Supergiant in an epic clash by 1 run. In an interview after the win he said, “All the three titles were special. I personally feel how you prepare at that start of tournament getting your combinations right is the most critical part in winning the tournament.”
Emphasizing on the importance of team work he said, “I also feel individual brilliance can win you a few games but what is required to win a championship is team unity, teamwork and intelligence. When we won the previous two titles, we probably had one batsmen in top 5 but no one this time which is little bit sad to see but again it shows different individuals have come at different times and taken the responsibility which has been hallmark of this team.”
“We wanted to score somewhere between 140 and 160 on this track because if we batted out coming in with 180 in mind, we might have bowled out for just 100. On a slow track like this, we had to believe we can defend any sort of target. That is what we discussed in the change room during the break. We spoke about the last game against KKR, who are a better batting unit in this tournament whom we restricted for just 105, so why can’t we do it again,” said Rohit explaining the dressing room atmosphere after posting only 129.
About defending low totals he added, “When you are defending such a low total, you need some fielding brilliances. We spoke in the change room about adding 20 runs extra with our fielding. But yea, in the first half things didn’t go well for us. It happens when you want to overdo in the pressure. When he had a break after 6 overs, we just got together to be calm and don’t overdo.”
