IPL 2023: Mumbai Indians prevailed over Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets in Mumbai on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the former's skipper Rohit Sharma feels that playing risky cricket is a new trend, which is paying off.
Record former five-time champion Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma feels most teams, including his own, are taking risks in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), which is paying them rich dividends. Chasing a stiff 200-run target set by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), MI on Tuesday romped home in 16.3 overs.
"We restricted them to less than 200. It was a great effort. It could have been 220 or more. I am still determining what a safe score is. In the last four games, we have seen excess of 200 have been scored. Most of the teams are taking risks, and it is coming off," said Rohit at the post-match presentation.
"The batters are taking risks, and 200-plus scores are being chased. The mindset of the batters is to do something special for the team, and it is coming off as well," added Rohit. Rohit praised the star performers of his team, including Uttarakhand pacer Akash Madhwal.
"It is a good pitch. If you apply yourselves, you can get runs. Those four guys played well. Akash [Madhwal] was with us last year as well. We saw the skill set. We wanted to give him a role. He is quite confident. He leads his Uttarakhand team. He knows what field he needs," Rohit continued.
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis felt they were 20 runs short. "I think at least 20, the context of the wickets so far this season, anything under 220 with MI's batting line-up. They are a strong side. They bat deep. We didn't capitalise on the last five overs (of our innings), so very disappointed," he said.
Du Plessis was in awe of Suryakumar Yadav's 35-ball 83-run knock for MI. "[SKY] He's one of the best. When he gets going, he's tough to bowl too. So many options you can't shut him down. [Siraj] He's been fantastic. The nature of T20 cricket is bowlers will be under pressure. That is the nature of the beast, long batting line-ups, and guys will come out and play positively," he concluded.
(With inputs from PTI)