"We tried everything, but we could not get him out" - Rohit Sharma on Jos Buttler's century against MI in IPL 2022
Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma endured a second straight defeat to begin the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 campaign. The five-time champions fell 23-runs short against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
Jos Buttler struck a sensational century to propel RR to 193-8 in the first innings. MI slumped in the second half of their chase to extend their search for points in the tournament.
bit.ly/TATAIPL-2022-9 2 wins in a row for @rajasthanroyals as they beat Mumbai Indians by 23 runs 👏👏
Scorecard ➡️ bit.ly/TATAIPL-2022-9
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Lauding Jos Buttler for an exceptional knock, Rohit Sharma said during the post-match presentation:
"I thought they batted pretty well to get to 193, Buttler played an exceptional innings. We tried everything but we could not get him out. But, he played really well."
Sharma continued:
"Look, the other side is quite big, we always wanted to make the batters hit on the longer side. But this is what it is, this is why it is so challenging to come up against quality batters. They can exploit all sides of the ground and that is what Buttler did."
Admitting that his team were in the game until the 13th over of the innings, Sharma said:
"I thought, 193 on that pitch, I think we could have chased that, especially when we needed 70 off 7 overs with 7 wickets in hand. These things can happen. It is still early days in the tournament but we will learn from that and hopefully come out better."
The Mumbai side were arguably in the driver's seat during the chase despite Rohit Sharma's early departure. Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma had put on a commanding partnership for the third wicket with the asking rate in check as well. However, a quick succession of wickets pushed MI out of the game in the business overs.
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Sharma feels that had one of the settled batters stayed until the end, things could have played out differently for MI. He said:
"There are a few positives - Bumrah bowling well, Mills as well, Tilak played exceptionally well and Ishan's batting was terrific as well. I thought if one of those two could have batted till the end, things could have been different for us."
Bumrah and Mills played a key role in the death overs for MI in the first innings. The duo ran through RR's fragile lower-order and prevented them from reaching the 200-run mark.
"Once he gets fit, he will straight come in" - Rohit Sharma on Suryakumar Yadav
To the surprise of many, MI chose to field the same playing XI that tasted defeat against Delhi Capitals in their opening match. Suryakumar Yadav was ruled out of the contest due to a thumb injury, from which he has not fully recovered yet.
Stating that the batter will walk back into the playing XI once he attains full fitness, Sharma said:
"He is a key player for us. We will wait and see. Once he gets fit, he will straight come in. But we want to give him time to recover because finger injuries can be tricky."
MI, who are ninth in the points table, will next face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 6 at the MCA Stadium in Pune.