Rohit’s presence in middle order provides stability, says Parthiv

Parthiv Patel on Tuesday backed Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma’s decision to not open the innings, saying the move gives stability to the batting order. “The year before (2015) when we won the championship, with myself and Lendl (Simmons) opening we were successful. With Rohit coming down, it gives stability to the batting order and gives us freedom to play shots in the first six overs,” said Patel ahead of Wednesday’s game against defending champions, Sunrisers Hyderabad.

“In the first two games we gave good starts, but lost wickets at the wrong time.”

Patel and Jos Buttler had opened the innings for MI in the first two games of this season with Sharma, coming in to bat at number four.

“My game does not change. I have batted the same way since IPL started. It’s important to stick to your ability and not worry about batting order. I will be successful only if I play my game,” he added. The wicketkeeper-batsman said the team was pretty confident of crossing the finish line in the previous game against Kolkata Knight Riders even when they needed 60 off the last four overs.

“This is a tournament in which lots of runs have been scored in the last few overs. We were always confident, especially with the way Hardik (Pandya) was batting in the nets or even in the last game. We knew if we can take it deep we can always chase anything on this ground. Obviously dew was a very big factor, I think. But it was good to get a win early in the season.”