‘Teams should fear coming to Mumbai’
1 May 2013 1:11 AM GMT
After their ‘fortress’ was almost breached by a spirited Kings XI Punjab the other day, a relieved Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma said his team would now focus on making its home ground a den where oppositions would be scared to play in the IPL.
‘Home games are important because you don’t know what you are going to get outside. You have to win as many as possible when you play at home and we are trying to make full use of that,’ Sharma said after the four-run win over KXIP at Wankhede on Monday.
‘We want to make it our fortress. We want to make it our den and people should fear coming to Mumbai and playing,’ he added. Rohit played a captain’s knock of 79* off just 39 balls but the young MI skipper admitted he was nervous when Punjab almost chased down their total of 174. ‘I wasn’t worried but I was nervous. I just wanted to hold my nerves. I didn’t want to make any mistakes on the field. But it worked out pretty well. I rotated the bowlers well, which was the key. At the end, I am happy that we won,’ he said.
Sharma further said the dew factor came into play in the second innings as the bowlers found it difficult to grip the wet ball. ‘The dew comes a lot over here. It is not easy. Spinners find it difficult to grip the ball but our spinners bowled well. Dew makes a lot of difference but we still defended the total of 174. Whether you win by four runs or 50 runs, a win is a win,’ he said.
‘Home games are important because you don’t know what you are going to get outside. You have to win as many as possible when you play at home and we are trying to make full use of that,’ Sharma said after the four-run win over KXIP at Wankhede on Monday.
‘We want to make it our fortress. We want to make it our den and people should fear coming to Mumbai and playing,’ he added. Rohit played a captain’s knock of 79* off just 39 balls but the young MI skipper admitted he was nervous when Punjab almost chased down their total of 174. ‘I wasn’t worried but I was nervous. I just wanted to hold my nerves. I didn’t want to make any mistakes on the field. But it worked out pretty well. I rotated the bowlers well, which was the key. At the end, I am happy that we won,’ he said.
Sharma further said the dew factor came into play in the second innings as the bowlers found it difficult to grip the wet ball. ‘The dew comes a lot over here. It is not easy. Spinners find it difficult to grip the ball but our spinners bowled well. Dew makes a lot of difference but we still defended the total of 174. Whether you win by four runs or 50 runs, a win is a win,’ he said.
Next Story
