Five-time champions Mumbai Indians registered a comprehensive six-wicket win as Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton’s 148-run opening stand helped the franchise chase down the daunting total of 221 with five balls to spare at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. With this win, Mumbai registered a win in their opening match of an IPL season for the first time in 14 years. However, despite the remarkable victory, all the chatter was reserved around Suryakumar Yadav, India’s T20 World Cup-winning captain, playing as the impact sub.
Unlike last season, the Mumbai management refrained from playing Rohit Sharma as the impact sub, and it was SKY who warmed the bench during the bowling innings. As expected, Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene was asked to explain the rationale behind playing Suryakumar as the impact sub.
The former Sri Lanka captain put an end to all the speculation right there and then, saying the right-handed batter had a groin niggle and that the decision was taken to give him time to recover before putting him on the field. He also urged the media to refrain from writing “unwanted stories.”
“I hope you don’t create unwanted stories. The camp is very happy. Everyone’s happy. Sky came, joined us. He had an extra couple of days he wanted as well. He joined. He had a little tight groin. He was doing fielding and all that. I knew I had another 5 days from this game to the other game. I just wanted to give him that extra bit of time. He was even keen at the end to go for 3-4 overs,” Jayawardene told reporters at the post-match press conference.
“I said, no, just fine. It’s okay. It was a change. Please don’t create any stories. It’s just that I have to take precautions. These are very valuable players for me to have them going throughout the season. These are calculated decisions that I make, and the management makes. There’s nothing beyond that,” he added.
SKY’s performance
With the bat, Suryakumar scored 16 runs off eight balls and was dismissed by Kartik Tyagi. He walked out to bat at No.3 after the fall of Rohit Sharma’s wicket. The contest saw the Mumbai Indians not breaking a sweat as they chased down the total of 221.
Rohit and Rickelton did the bulk of the job, with the two coming up with scores of 78 and 81. In the end, Naman Dhir took the team past the line by hitting a boundary on the opening ball of the final over of the game.
Earlier, KKR posted 220/4 in 20 overs owing to a 67-run knock by skipper Ajinkya Rahane. Angkrish Raghuvanshi also chipped in with a 29-ball 51.
