Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians created history in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday as they defeated Delhi Capitals by five wickets to win the IPL 2020 title at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. This was Mumbai Indians’ fifth IPL title and they broke plenty of records with this win. This was Rohit Sharma’s sixth IPL title as player and captain combined, having won the IPL 2009 title as a player for Deccan Chargers. Mumbai Indians became the second team after Chennai Super Kings to successfully defend the title. Chennai Super Kings had won back-to-back titles in IPL 2010 and 2011 while Mumbai Indians secured the win in 2019 and now 2020.
Rohit Sharma also became the first captain to score two fifties in a final and his 200th appearance in the IPL was spectacular in more ways than one. Following the win, fans started trending #hitman and many went on to say that Rohit Sharma should be the captain of the Indian cricket team for the ICC World T20 events and not Virat Kohli. While Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians achieved history, Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore continued their trophy-less wait for one more year as Royal Challengers Bangalore were eliminated from the competition.
Mumbai Indians once again confirmed that they are the side to beat in the IPL and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai also paid tribute to Rohit Sharma as they dominated the IPL 2020. Mumbai Indians finished on top of the table in IPL 2020 and they won the title for the third time after finishing in 1st position, having earlier won in IPL 2017 and also in IPL 2019.
Knowing the roles
Speaking after the end of the match, Rohit Sharma said each and every member of the side knew what their roles were and that is what played a part in the team winning the IPL.
“I'm quite happy with how things went the whole season. We said at the start that we need the winning habit. We couldn't have asked for anything more, right on the money from ball 1 and we never looked back. I think a lot of credit goes to the people who worked behind the scenes - often they go unnoticed. Our work started long before the IPL started, and we wanted to make sure we filled the gaps in previous seasons. I had to find the balance to get the best out of them. I'm not someone who can run behind them with a stick, and it's important to instil confidence in the players. Krunal, Hardik and Pollard have done their job for a long time, they know their roles,” Rohit said.
Kieron Pollard, who also captained some games for Mumbai Indians in Rohit Sharma’s absence, also said that all the hard work of 11 years had finally paid off.
“It's a great feeling, means a lot. Fifth trophy.. Have been here for 11 years. We have a quiet celebration. He is a different West Indian. He goes at 6am to the gym. The number of trophies, the amount of talent that's there, you can say MI is the best T20 team going around. The management, the support staff, the effort they put in to make. Dwayne Bravo you are behind me now (about number of T20 titles), I have to say that on camera,” Pollard said.
With this win, Mumbai Indians have cemented their reputation as one of the greatest T20 teams in the world.
