Everything falls in place for Mumbai Indians (MI) to take the fifth title home, but Rohit Sharma unwanted demand of single which costed Suyakumar Yadav’s wicket could have made the task tougher.
While chasing 156 runs target, after Quinton de Kock‘s wicket, Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav’s wicket partnership was fruiting. But the MI skipper took axe on his own feet. In the 11th over of the chase off Ravichandran Ashwin’s delivery, he sent the ball to extra cover. Ajinkya Rahane was stationed there, but then also he demanded a quick single.
Suryakumar was adamant that there was no run, but Rohit decided otherwise. And even before Suryakumar could leave his crease, the Mumbai skipper had already crossed the halfway mark on the pitch.
In the end, the right-handed batsman decided to sacrifice his wicket by leaving his crease. Rohit had looked disappointed, but he rectified his mistake by hitting match-winning 68 runs off 51 balls to make sure MI defended the title.
The kind of form Surya is in, and I should have sacrificed my wicket: Rohit Sharma
The hitman spoke about Surya’s dismissal at the end of the game, stating that he should be the one to sacrifice the wicket for him considering Yadav has been prolific for MI this season. Suryakumar was indeed in stunning form in IPL 2020 and finished the season with an impressive 480 runs.
“The kind of form he was in, I should have sacrificed my wicket for Surya. But throughout the tournament he has played some incredible shots,” said Rohit Sharma at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Mumbai Indians won the grand-finale by five wickets and became the only second IPL team to defend its title.