Lewis allowed me to settle down, says Rohit
Royal Challengers coach Vettori laments Pandya’s referral
Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma, who steered the defending champions to their first win of the season with a 52-ball 94, credited West Indian Evin Lewis for allowing him to settle down on the crease in the IPL clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Mumbai Indians notched up their first victory by defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore by 46 runs on Tuesday courtesy Rohit’s 94 and Lewis’ 65. The Mumbai franchise posted a stiff target of 213/6 before restricting the opposition to 167/8 in 20 overs.
“...with Evin Lewis batting, anything can happen, he is a great striker of the ball and anything in his area he is going to smash it and that is what he did. It allowed me to take my time, which was very crucial. We always wanted one set batsman to bat as long as possible and [it was a] perfect platform for me to do that, explained Rohit.
Rohit said that his team was positive in their approach despite the first three losses.
“The only thing we did not do as a group in the last three games was sometimes [when] we batted well, [then] we did not bowl well. [When] we bowled well, we did not bat well. The idea was to get both of these departments going and we wanted to be consistent in our bowling as well as batting,” said the MI skipper.
He also praised the performance
of his bowlers Mitchell McClenaghan, Krunal Pandya and Mayank Markande.
Asked about the batting order. the skipper said he would continue to bat at number three, allowing the new players to settle down.
“I do not think we are looking to change anything. It is important to give the guys the comfort, because they should know where they are batting for the next few games so they can plan accordingly. If you keep changing too much it does not help anyone.”
“All of us, myself, Pollard, Krunal [Pandya], Hardik [Pandya], we can take the pressure and make sure that the team gets into good position all the time. This is the ideal combination for us right now,” he concluded.