IPL: Rohit disappointed but says this is not the end for Mumbai Indians

 Mumbai: Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma said he was disappointed with the defeat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) opening game against Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Brabourne Stadium here, but added that it was “not the end” of the five-time champions’ campaign in the tournament.

Despite Ishan Kishan’s unbeaten 81 and 41 runs from Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians failed to defend 177, with Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav’s knocks helping Delhi Capitals win the match by four wickets with 10 balls to spare.

Sharma conceded that the players made some mistakes on the field, upsetting Mumbai Indians’ plans.

“We always come prepared, whether it’s the first game or last game, we want to try and win every game. But we made some mistakes on the field which didn’t go according to plans. Those things can happen. We just need to keep it tight within the group. Disappointed, but it’s not the end,” said Sharma.

Mumbai Indians’ Murugan Ashwin, Tymal Mills and Basil Thampi all struck at different times but Delhi Capitals managed to chase down the target after a 75-run partnership between Axar and Yadav.

“I thought it (177) was a good score. It didn’t look like that kind of a pitch where you could get 170-plus at the start. But we played really well in the middle and finished off really well as well. It was a good score on the board, it’s just that we didn’t bowl according to the plans,” Sharma said.

Spinner Murugan Ashwin, who made a memorable debut for MI ending with figures of 2/14 in his four overs, said that wrist spinners like him and Delhi Capitals’ Kuldeep Yadav could be a force to reckon with on the Brabourne pitch. Kuldeep registeried figures of 3/18, and Murugan Ashwin felt they both did pretty much the same thing on the pitch.

“Both me and Kuldeep had a good game, wrist spinners, with our variations, we can do a lot off the wicket. Both of us hit the right lengths, bowled the right speeds, it’s a good wicket to bat and the lines were important, we had to be precise to put the batters on the backfoot and force them to do something,” he said.

Murugan also felt that only minor tweaks were needed for Mumbai Indians to hit winning ways.

“As a bowling unit, we were looking very good out there. We need to address a few things like closing out the overs. We gave away a few more boundary balls than we’d have liked but we will regroup and come back stronger,” said Murugan.

“I don’t think we succumbed to pressure, we have experienced bowlers, it’s just about finishing off games. We will come back.”

He also acknowledged a good innings from Ishan Kishan.

“Ishan was very good, he took it till the end, that was a good, responsible innings from him. He was batting well in the nets and practice games, so I’m happy for him,” said Murugan.

Mumbai Indians will take on the Rajasthan Royals on April 2 at the DY Patil Stadium. (IANS)