"I don't even remember when we won our first game in 2022" - MI skipper Rohit Sharma
Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma revisited the franchise's horrid start to the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) season after they notched their first win of the ongoing 2023 campaign on Tuesday, April 11.
The five-time IPL champions finished bottom of the table in 2022, and much of that was attributed to their poor start where they lost their first eight matches. MI ended the season with four wins out of their remaining six games to finish with eight points.
Mumbai Indians already have a reputation for being slow starters. MI's streak of losing their first match of the season extended to 11 years after losing to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their IPL 2023 opener. They followed up with a tame loss to arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at home.
Rohit and Co. finally got their first points on the board following a last-gasp win over the Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.
Relieved to get the first win of the season much sooner than last year, Rohit said in a post-match interaction with his teammate Tilak Verma:
"I really like your Hyderabadi slang. Winning the first match of the season was really important. Last year we struggled. Five, six, seven matches, I don't even remember when we won our first game in 2022."
Rohit shared a crucial partnership with Tilak Varma for the second wicket during the run chase against DC. The partnership saw the MI skipper score his first IPL fifty since 2021 while the youngster chipped in with a valuable contribution, prolonging his good form.
Recalling the conversation during their partnership, Rohit said:
"I said a couple of things to Tilak during our partnership, I told him not to play this kind of shot because forging a partnership was important during that time. The over in which you scored 16 runs, that was very crucial. If there had been not many runs from that over, it would have been tough because Mustafizur and Nortje had overs left."
"It became easy for me as I took my time, took singles and settled down." - Tilak Varma recalls his approach to Rohit Sharma
Tilak Varma came into bat midway through the eighth over, and it was the phase where DC had unleashed their spin bowling.
With the pitch offering assistance to the spinners, Varma had to be careful early on. He was batting on 12 runs off 12 deliveries before accelerating.
Varma said that his job at the crease, particularly early on, was eased because of how well Sharma was performing at the other end. He said:
"The deliveries from the spinners were gripping, and you said that as well and to take my time against the spinners. You were settled at the crease, and you could cover the margin so it became easy for me as I took my time, took singles and settled down."
One of the major turning points in the contest came in the form of the 16th over, where Varma scored 16 runs off the first three balls against Mustafizur Rahman.
The Bangladesh pacer bounced back with the scalps of Varma and Suryakumar Yadav. Despite the wickets, the over helped in relaxing the required rate in the death overs.