IPL 2022: MI skipper Rohit Sharma hails Shokeen, Kartikeya after win over RR

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma, after the win over Rajasthan Royals on Saturday, hailed the young bowling duo Hrithik Shokeen and Kumar Kartikeya.

Shokeen and Kartikeya scalped two and one wickets respectively as MI won against Rajasthan Royals (RR) by five wickets at the Dr DY Patil Stadium.

"(Hrithik and Kartikeya) Both of these guys, they are courageous, they want to do something special. It gives me the confidence to bowl them at any given stage. We played very well, bowlers came together, batters did the job as well," said Rohit Sharma in a post-match presentation.

Winless in the record 8 matches of the IPL 2022, five-time champions Mumbai Indians returned back to winning ways on Saturday. Rohit, who would any day accept a win as his birthday present, said that Mumbai's real potential was on display against Rajasthan Royals.

"I'd definitely take it (win), that's how we play, real potential came out today, with the ball especially. They kept applying the pressure. If you keep taking wickets, it's going to be difficult for them, we did that perfectly today. This is the team we played in the first couple of games except few for bowling changes," said Sharma.

Rohit also said that he didn't feel that team combination was the reason for the debacle which this season has been so far.

"When you have a season like that, you are not sure of your combination. You want to try out so many things. The conditions are different. The ball tends to grip here, the pitches are flat in the other venues. We try and field the best combination, it hasn't worked for eight games. But one thing I can say is, we were not blown away by the opposition, we came really close. Had we won those games, things would have been slightly different," he added.

Coming to the match, chasing a tricky 159-run target, Mumbai Indians did not get the best of starts losing their skipper Rohit Sharma cheaply as five-time champions lost their first wicket for 23. Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed Rohit at 2 and the MI captain's poor run with the bat continued in the tournament.

Wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan batted aggressively hitting boundaries and sixes to keep Mumbai's scoreboard moving. But left-arm pacer Trent Boult dismissed him for 26 off 18 balls after he had hit four boundaries and one six as MI lost their second wicket for 41.

Mumbai Indians needed a partnership and Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma did exactly that to take the team's total beyond the 50-run mark in 6.3 overs. Suryakumar Yadav batted aggressively and along with Tilak Varma notched up a fifty-run partnership in just 33 balls while taking the team's total beyond the triple-figure mark in 12.3 overs.

Suryakumar also scored his half-century in just 36 balls. Just when the MI team looked like motoring along, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal jolted them dismissing Suryakumar for 51 off 39 balls. In the next over, pacer Prasidh Krishna also struck dismissing Tilak Varma for 35 to reduce Mumbai to 122/4.

Mumbai Indians once again needed a partnership and Kieron Pollard played a patient knock and allowed Tim David to bat aggressively and Mumbai's score reached beyond the 150-run mark.With four runs needed in the last over, Mumbai Indians lost the wicket of Pollard against the run of play to Kuldeep Sen but in the next ball, Daniel Sams hit a six to seal a five-wicket win for Mumbai Indians.

(ANI)

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