Mumbai: Mumbai Indians’ skipper Rohit Sharma on Saturday said that his team should have chased down Rajasthan Royals’ 193 in their second match of IPL 2022 at DY Patil Stadium.
After Jos Buttler’s 68-ball hundred took Rajasthan to 193/8, Mumbai seemed on course to chase down the target but after Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma fell, they suffered a wobble and ended at 170/8, losing by 23 runs.
“I thought they batted well to get to 193. Buttler played an exceptional innings. We tried everything we could to get him out. But I thought 193 on that pitch could’ve been chased, especially when we needed 70 in 7 overs. But these things can happen and it’s early days. We can learn,” said Sharma at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Apart from Kishan and Varma notching up fifties, Jasprit Bumrah scalped figures of 3/17 in four overs and Tymal Mills took 3/35 in his four overs. Sharma felt if either Kishan or Varma had stayed till the end, the result could have been different.
“There were a few positives. Bumrah bowled well, as did Mills. And Tilak played exceptionally, Ishan’s batting was terrific. I thought one of those two batting till the end would’ve made the difference.”
Sharma signed off by saying that middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav is being given more time to be better after recovering from a hairline fracture sustained in February during the third T20I against the West Indies. “He is a key player for us. Once he gets fit, he comes in straight but we want him to recover since finger injuries are tricky.”
With two out of two losses, Mumbai will now try to bounce back in three days time when they take on the Kolkata Knight Riders on April 6 at MCA Stadium in Pune.
–IANS