The memories of a poor last year must’ve come back to haunt Mumbai Indians when they started IPL 2023 with back-to-back defeats. With just four wins out of 14 attempts, MI, the most successful team in IPL history, finished last in the standings in a nightmare of a season.
However, the franchise has seen a remarkable turnaround by finishing fourth in on the table and qualifying for the playoffs. And now, they are just a couple of steps away from lifting the trophy as well following a massive win over Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2023 Eliminator.
MI captain Rohit Sharma accepted that the team knew plenty of work had to be done when last year is taken into account but he’s happy to see where the team is now despite a ‘scrappy’ progress.
“I definitely thought about it,” Rohit said while responding whether he thought MI will make it to the playoffs after a poor start to the season. “That is what we have done over the years. People don’t expect us to do certain things but we come out of all the obstacles and then manage our way through to get what we want.”
He continued, “Honestly, we, at the start of the season, knew a lot of work had to be done compared to what happened last season. We worked through it, scrambled through it. It was a scrappy one but I would take that anyway.”
Right-arm pacer Akash Madhwal has proved to be the find of the season for MI which has been hit by a couple of major injury blows.
Madhwal took a stunning five-wicket haul against LSG, justifying the faith the team has put in him in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer.
“He (Akash) was the part of the team last year as a support bowler, and once Jofra (Archer) was gone and I knew he had skills and the character to do the job for us,” Rohit said.
“Over the years, we have seen many guys coming in from Mumbai Indians and playing for India. It is important to make them (youngsters) feel special and make them feel part of the team, my job is to just make them comfortable in the middle. They are very clear in their roles about what they need to do for the team and that’s what you want,” he added.
MI posted 182/8 and then bowled out LSG for 101 in 16.3 overs. There were as many as three run outs during the LSG chase with captain Rohit himself effecting one.
“As a team, we enjoyed it (fielding). Good to see everyone contributing on the field. Coming to Chennai, we knew whole team needs to come to the party. At Wankhede, you need one or two brilliant performances, but here it is a different ball game,” Rohit said.
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