Mumbai Indians emerged victorious against Delhi Capitals to become five-time champions in IPL. They chased down 156 with five wickets in hand and eight balls to spare.Captain Rohit Sharma, who hasn’t had a memorable IPL as a batsman could console himself with his knock coming at the right time.
Rohit anchored the Mumbai Indians innings while de Kock wasn’t fortunate enough to extend his batting beyond a cameo of 12-ball 20 runs.
Jubilant Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma said, ‘I’m quite happy with how things went the whole season. We said at the start that we need the winning habit. We couldn’t have asked for anything more, right on the money from ball 1 and we never looked back. I think a lot of credit goes to the people who worked behind the scenes – often they go unnoticed. Our work started long before the IPL started, and we wanted to make sure we filled the gaps in previous seasons. I had to find the balance to get the best out of them. I’m not someone who can run behind them with a stick, and it’s important to instil confidence in the players. Krunal, Hardik and Pollard have done their job for a long time, they know their roles. Rahul missed out today, and we need to make sure we put an arm around him and assure him that he didn’t do anything wrong and that it was a tactical move. We made sure Ishan and Surya had confidence – just have to let Ishan loose, and Surya is a more matured player. The kind of form he was in, I should have sacrificed my wicket for Surya. But throughout the tournament he has played some incredible shots. Unfortunately we couldn’t have the fans at the stadium. We missed playing at the Wankhede and hopefully we can get back there next year.’
MI coach Mahela Jayawardane said, ‘It was a tough tournament. There were a lot of superstitions about odd years. I have to congratulate Ricky and his team, they have had a great season and they were a tough opponent today. We had a great preparation, and we tried to manage them well and ensure they didn’t overdo or under do any of the work. Big-hitting has been in MI’s DNA for a long time. We have tried to bring in the touch play a little bit to balance it out. Credit to the management who bought into our ideas and that helped create history today. It’s all about helping the team preparation-wise and explain their roles to them. We have a good leadership group out there, and a great support staff who have helped them out. The boys have seen my not-so-soft side, but the group has worked off-season, and today is the culmination of all of the hard work.’