Karn Sharma opens up how the mentor Mahela Jayawardene got Mumbai Indians rid of the pressure in the grand finale of IPL 2017 against Rising Pune Supergiant. The veteran spinner was the part of the MI victory in the 10th edition of the lucrative league.
After winning the toss, Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians could not set a huge target, setting 130 runs target at the loss of eight wickets. However, MI is famous for winning matches from the crunch situations and similar happened in this marquee clash. Even though RSP skipper Steve Smith and Ajinkya Rahane scored 51 and 44 runs respectively, the MI snatched the victory from them by one run.
Mahela Jayawardene used some strong words: Karn Sharma
Karn Sharam credits the veteran Sri Lankan cricketer for helping the team to win the third IPL title. He said that Jayawardene used strong words that motivated the team to win the low-scoring match.
“We had made only 128-129 runs in that game so, Mahela Jayawardene (Mumbai Indians’ coach) made sure that the entire team was on their toes. He used some strong words like- We have to win this game anyhow. Whether you win it by 10 runs or 1 run, I don’t care. But, you have to win it,” Sharma told Dr. Yash Kashikar on Say Yash To Sports show.
Sharma believes his role was extremely important:
The spinner returned wicketless but he was economical bowlers, leaking 18 runs in his four-over quota. He made sure that he kept a check on the run-scoring. Sharma claims that his spell played a significant role in MI’s triumph.
“That motivated all of us & it was one of the best games I have ever played. My spell of zero for 18 in 4 overs was extremely important as well since me & Krunal (Pandya) were the only spinners in the side in that game,” the tweaker added.
Karn Sharma, who has featured in One Test, 2 ODIs and one T20I, now plays for Chennai Super Kings under the leadership of MS Dhoni.