'Important to back your core group of bowlers,' says Rohit

Mumbai Indians (MI) pulled off the second-highest run-chase in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history, chasing down 219 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday (May 1) in Delhi. Kieron Pollard starred with the bat scoring an unbeaten 34-ball 87 and also chipped in with crucial wickets of Faf du Plessis and Suresh Raina.

MI managed to win just two out of five games in Chennai, but have won both their matches in Delhi so far.  Speaking of the win, MI captain Rohit Sharma said, "It (The Delhi wicket) suits our style of play, and yes, the bowlers will be under pressure, but that's where you back the bowlers. There will be games where the bowlers will go for runs, but it's important to back your core group of bowlers," Rohit said.

No team can be happy after conceding 218 runs, but Rohit said that the team were positive at the end of the CSK innings. : "I know it's always tough for the bowlers on a good pitch and smaller ground. We wanted to stay positive once we finished (bowling our) 20 overs," he said.

"We got a good start and saw what happened. I mean we just had a brief chat (at the innings break) and said it was a good pitch. We had shot-makers in our batting line-up and we just wanted to take the game in the end," he further added.

Talking of the move to send Krunal Pandya at No. 4, Rohit said, "Brilliant partnership at the top and Krunal-Polly partnership was also there. We backed Krunal (at No.4) and he's coming off good form in domestic cricket. A left-hander always makes a difference even though they [CSK] have an off-spinner."

'Difference was execution'

CSK captain MS Dhoni said that poor execution and dropped catches were huge factors behind the defeat, but reckons that the bowlers will learn from this experience. "If you look how it went. we were very off target when it came to execution. It is important to do that. The wicket was easy to hit. In a tournament like this, you will win and lose a few close games. When you are under the pump, you learn a lot.

"Irrespective where we are in the points table, we take one game at a time. We hardly ever focus where we are standing on the table. That has been our good point along the way," Dhoni added.

Despite this loss, CSK remain top of the IPL 2021 table with 10 points from seven matches - level on points with Delhi Capitals (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). MI, on the other hand, now have eight points from seven matches and currently occupy the fourth spot.