Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma rates Suryakumar Yadav as one of the best players of spin bowling with an ability to play the difficult shots on bad tracks, which he displayed during his match-winning 71 against CSK in the first IPL Qualifier.
Surya's 54-ball unbeaten knock on a sub-standard Chepauk track ensured a smooth passage to the final for the Mumbai Indians as they beat the defending champions by six wickets.
Surya, who won the Man of the match award, said he had decided to play most of his shots along the ground after watching how the pitch behaved when CSK batted.
For Rohit, the role of his three spinners (Jayant Yadav, Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar), who gave away only 60 runs for four wickets in 11 overs between them, was important.
"It was important to restrict them to as little as possible, because it can get tricky against their quality spinners,” said Rohit.
He was happy that his call to have off-spinner Jayant Yadav paid off.
"It was a call we had to make, knowing they have quite a few right-handers in their squad. Jayant is a quality bowler. Thought that a finger-spinner can be more effective than a wristie,” said Rohit.
MI is one of the teams that have has always done well at the Chepauk and the skipper attributes it to understanding the conditions well.
With a good four days left before the final, the MI skipper wants his team to switch off and relax for a couple of days before the grand finale.”
"It was a great effort. It's great feeling to know that we'll be playing the finals. Three days now in which we can switch off before the final. It is much-needed break” concluded Rohit.
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