IPL 2016, Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Rider: Rohit Sharma asserts Mumbai Indians will bounce back

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma today asserted that his side would bounce back from the defeat in the IPL campaign opener and pick up steam as the tournament progresses as they know how to “win the trophy and games”. Mumbai Indians had a typical slow start to their title defence in season nine, going down to Pune Supergiants by nine wickets on April 9 but Rohit said his team has in it the wherewithal to come back stronger.

“It (the loss) was disappointing, the performance we had is not something we would want. But things like this can happen. What has happened has happened and we don’t want to carry any baggage. We have gone back to the drawing board and decided what we can’t afford as a team. We have rectified our mistakes. Hopefully we have a better game here,” Rohit said on the eve of their match against Kolkata Knight Riders tomorrow.

“We are a team that knows what we to do to win the trophy and win games. This is professional unit and you don’t need to motivate the team. Everyone knows what is expected. You can’t get demotivated. You have to come back stronger. That is the only way going forward,” he added. Rohit said every team needs some time some time to settle down and the first few weeks would be a challenge.

“The first few games are always challenging because as a group you are all trying to get together and play as a team which is difficult for every team, not just Mumbai Indians.  That is a challenge for us as well. The first few weeks will be a big challenge, to get the right combination and field your best team,” he said.

Right from his decision to bat first, the team selection also came in for criticism as their batsmen put up a shoddy display to be restricted to 121/8 by Pune Supergiants.

“We play according to the condition and get right balance of the squad. Sometimes it will work and sometimes it may not.  It is important that you identify that as early as possible in the tournament and make sure you have a settled squad going ahead. It is always important to give the guys a few games to prove themselves,” said the right-handed opening batsman.

On the poor starters tag of Mumbai Indians, he said, “People are there to comment but we want to concentrate on our processes. People will judge and talk because we are probably one of the popular teams in IPL history and we have proved that in our performances.

“People have the right to talk about it but we don’t want to be slow starters. We want to win as many games as possible in the first half and see what happens afterwards. It is still early days. We want to work hard and concentrate on what lies ahead of us.”