IPL 2021: KKR is playing before us, so we will know exactly what to do – Rohit Sharma

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma was delighted after his team bagged a huge win of eight wickets against Rajasthan Royals at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. The defending champions won with 70 balls to spare as they chased down 91 runs in just 8.2 overs.

This was a much-needed win for Mumbai Indians as it keeps them alive in the playoff race. Furthermore, the big win also helped the Rohit Sharma-led team in boosting their Net Run Rate, which is going to help them.

Meanwhile, KKR will play their next match against Rajasthan Royals and their NRR is in the positive (+0.294) whereas MI’s NRR is still in the negative (-0.048) despite a huge win against RR. Thus, if KKR manages to win against RR then MI will need to win by a big margin against Sunrisers Hyderabad to seal their playoff berth.

As KKR will play before MI’s match, the reigning champions will have clarity on how to play their last match against SRH. MI will know by how much margin they should win against Hyderabad in a bid to qualify for the playoff stages.

Rohit also revealed that he took the aggressive role in the opening partnership with Ishan Kishan, who was playing after a couple of matches. Kishan isn’t in the best of forms and thus the MI captain wanted the wicket-keeper batter to take his team and find his touch. The move paid dividends as Kishan roared back into form as he smashed a fifty off just 25 balls and helped his team chase down the total within nine overs.

Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation, “We had to come here and do what we had to do. The two points were very crucial for us. Once we had them bowled out for 90, we had a chance to finish it early. It is important to seize the game. We had to come out and bat freely. We had a chance to get the run rate in order. Was a perfect game for us. He (Kishan) is playing after a couple of games. I was there to take the risks. We know his ability. We wanted him to spend some time and that is exactly what he did. You got to ask Jimmy (James Pamment – Mumbai’s fielding coach) if he wants to do another one (pep talk). He loves talking to us, he’s a great character to have in the squad. Solid guy, keeps the atmosphere buzzing all the time in the squad group and that is something that is necessary”.

Rohit Sharma added, “We were not playing well in terms of where we would have liked to, so you need that kind of talks from someone like him. It was important for us to just get going. That actually got all the guys going. When you’re under the radar, sometimes it’s important that you come out and do the job nice and quiet. We’ve been on and off this season. We’ve been doing well, we’ve been preparing well, it’s just that collectively we were not coming together but today was a good example. All the bowlers came together, used the conditions really well and then the batters finished it off. I feel in this tournament, any team is capable of beating anyone. KKR is playing before us and we will know exactly what to do”.

MI will play their next match against SRH at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Friday.