IPL 8: ‘We have a team song which we perform after every win’
Kolkata: “When Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he wants to bowl, I was kind of happy inside,” said Rohit Sharma, the captain of Mumbai Indians. The right-handed batsman has never done anything wrong at the Eden Gardens and Sunday was no different after Mumbai clinched their second Indian Premier League (IPL) title overcoming the powerful Chennai Super Kings by 41 runs.
“In a big game, you feel like batting first, put a big score on the board and put pressure on the opponent which happened. The average score here has been 170 plus. We batted normally because we knew the wicket is good at Eden. We didn’t start thinking that we have to score 200. It is important to get the momentum in a ground where the outfield is fast,” said Rohit, who scored a 26-ball 50 and won the Man of the Match award.
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After Parthiv Patel got out in the first over, he formed a good partnership with Lendl Simmons to guide Mumbai to a winning total.
When asked about leadership skills, the 28-year-old said: “I keep things simple. I speak to myself, listen to myself, I go by my instincts. That’s how Ricky Ponting has helped me.”
Rohit, who was handed captaincy in 2013, said that he thoroughly enjoyed planning, strategizing for the last two months. “There came a point when nothing went right. We were not winning and as a captain, I had to be calm and hold the team together,” he added.
However, the Mumbai team started their dressing room celebrations much early and they kept the media waiting till 1.15 am at night.
So, what did they do as part of the merriment? “We have a team song which we do after every win, not necessarily has to be the final match. We did that. And there is more to come once we reach the hotel,” said Rohit, who did not entertain criticism of Dhoni.
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When he was asked whether it was Dhoni’s lack of form and prowess that led to Chennai’s downfall, he replied sternly: “See, he is a champion batsman. He has won many games for Chennai as well as Team India. There is a certain way he goes about his batting. For him to come and play the way he does, the situation was not right today (Sunday). He probably expected more from the openers upfront.”
Before concluding, Rohit declared the secret formula behind Mumbai’s late surge. “In the T20 format too, there are parts. You need to break it up and win those moments and that is what we did,” he asserted.
