Rohit Sharma comments on MI winning IPL 2019: Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma was vocal about registering fourth IPL title.
Advertisement
What an IPL, and what an end to it! Can there be a more thrilling finish to a final game of any marquee Tournament than the one we witnessed a few minutes ago? Certainly not.
Coming back to the game, Mumbai Indians defeated the Chennai Super Kings in an absolute humdinger of a match, by just 1 run in the final of the Indian Premier League at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hydrabad.
Chasing a paltry total of 150, the Super Kings, courtesy an absolute peach of an innings yet again by Shane Watson (80 off 59) in an IPL final, almost repeated his last year heroics yet again.
Mission #AbkiBaarChauthiBaar: Successfully accomplished by #MumbaiIndians! 😎 https://t.co/EMIgJi989F
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) May 12, 2019
With only eight runs required off the final over, and Malinga having given away 42 runs in his 3 overs, the match seemed to be in the pocket for CSK. But, with only 2 runs required in the final delivery, a slower ball from Malinga to Shardul Thakur caught him right in front of the leg stump and ultimately leading MI to their record 4th IPL title.
Rohit Sharma comments on MI winning IPL 2019
Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma revealed how they divided the tournament into two halves. “We played some good cricket. Good to see we qualified in the top two. At the start of the tournament, we wanted to split the tournament into two halves. But credit to the entire squad, not just the XI. Even the support staff as well,” Sharma was quoted as saying.
Sharma credited his bowlers for being consistent throughout the season and bailing them out on several occasions. “Our bowling in this tournament was excellent. At different stages, our bowlers put their hands up and brought us back in the game.
“Every bowler who got an opportunity put their hand up, whatever condition we played in. We backed our ability and our skills, and that’s probably why we got rewards,” Sharma said.
Despite registering bowling figures of 4-0-49-1, veteran Indians fast bowler Lasith Malinga delivered when it mattered the most. When Super Kings required a couple of runs off the last ball, Malinga pinned Shardul Thakur in front of the wickets to win the match for his team.
Rohit Sharma on Lasith Malinga
On being asked about picking one out of Malinga and all-rounder Hardik Pandya to bowl the last over, Sharma opened up on why he chose the experience of Malinga.
“About [Lasith] Malinga, that’s what champions do. I had confidence in him despite a poor third over. He also had confidence he could do it. I thought we could use Hardik for the 20th, but wanted to back someone who has done it for us. Malinga has done it many times in the past, so not a very difficult decision,” Sharma mentioned.
