Becoming the Indian Premier League (IPL) champions is not a new feeling for us. Having a second or a third baby may not be something new to a family either. However, the joy that comes along with it, whether it’s the first, second or the third is unparalleled. Each time has a special script etched in the journey. The way we won our first title in 2013, our second in 2015 and the most recent, last night have a different story, a journey with newer adventures and obstacles. We began the 10th edition of the IPL with intense preparation that included training, coming up with strong strategies and getting the right combination rolling as early as we could in the league stage. We did all that, our boys worked together as a team and took us to our third title. As our boys returned to Mumbai after winning the title in Hyderabad, Rohit Sharma, Parthiv Patel and Shane Bond addressed the media who had many a question for the trio.

Rohit Sharma is the only skipper to win three IPL titles. Captaincy was handed to him during the 2013 season and he responded with aplomb as we went on to win our first title. We won our second in 2015 and the third one in the 10th edition of the league. It was a tough choice for Rohit to choose one of the three as the sweetest though. “All three are special, I guess, but the last game was brilliant to be part of. It was one of the best T20 games I’ve been part of – for sure. I can’t single out any one particular edition, because all three editions that we won was really, really special. We put in a lot of hard work towards them and I want to cherish all of them. But, certainly, the best T20 game for me was last night.”

We have been known to have a star-studded squad and 2017 was no different. Our captain and the coaches may have had a few good headaches, but they handled them very well – the result shows that. Rohit gave us an insight on how he goes about leading a formidable side like Mumbai Indians. “That is the challenge of the IPL! We’ve gelled well as a team. We have enjoyed each other’s company and that bond makes the team successful.”

Rohit was clear about one thing during the press conference. He didn’t want any comparisons to be drawn between the IPL and other formats of cricket, international or domestic when it came to where he batted. “The IPL is a different format, a different tournament! When you play for India, it’s different. I don’t see why we try and compare both IPL and international cricket. My requirement here was in the middle order, and that’s what we went ahead with. We realised at the start of the tournament that it is better for me to bat lower down the order to get the balance right. When I go there (for national duty), it’s a different thing.”

Parthiv Patel is quite the experienced pro in the IPL. He has played for a few teams, but has found a comforting space in the Mumbai Indians camp. The opener has gotten better over the seasons and has given us some solid starts this year. Selection for the national team is not something that plays on his mind anymore. “I’m enjoying my game right now. I don’t think too much about being selected for India – I’m old enough and past that. I just love the way I’m playing cricket at the moment.”

Shane Bond’s appreciation for Jasprit Bumrah has been on a constant rise. He sees a very bright future for Bumrah who was first spotted by Mumbai Indians, and shot to fame in the IPL. “The way he has been bowling in this tournament, if he carries that form through to the Champions Trophy, he is going to play a huge role for India’s success. “

Bond has been in charge of some pacers of the highest quality. He enjoys being a bowling coach to all of them irrespective of where they come from. He lets them do their thing on the field when he sits and looks on from the dug-out. “It’s stressful, sitting and watching! I think it’s probably easier out there, from a playing point of view than watching. One of the great things about the IPL is how the players and coaches from different parts of the world come together. It’s a great blend and people who you don’t think can associate themselves with somebody else, become the best of friends. In Mumbai, we try to share the load, not just put it all on Rohit. We try to pass it on to guys like Parthiv, Pollard, myself, Mahela and the coaching staff. When the pressure comes on, we look to these people to offer advice at different parts of the field to deal with the stress. Ultimately, it’s Rohit who has got to make the decision on the field, and that is what he has done so well. Guys would come and offer Rohit their thoughts, but Rohit’s been really decisive on what to do. That’s the way we have played the whole tournament. We played as a team and tried to ensure we had all the bases covered. We were well-prepared and trusted in all the things we had planned off the field, and took it out to the park with Rohit in charge of it. It worked out perfectly for us!”

An old fox, Mitchell Johnson bowled the crucial, final over in the chase – the over that mattered in the end and when we won. Bond only got a chance to speak to Johnson after the game on what was going on out there. He revealed it for us! “He (Johnson) had a couple of different ideas. Mali (Malinga) came up to him and gave him a couple of ideas. He asked him to bowl straight Yorkers on the last couple of deliveries in the over. He took Malinga’s advice and he was successful. That is one advantage we had – we had some successful and very good fast bowlers, at the end of the innings which made it difficult for the opposition.”

There was a change of guard in the coaching staff prior to this season. Mahela Jayawardene was appointed Head Coach of the squad well before the auction. Rohit Sharma has enjoyed the way Mahela coached the team throughout the season and had many words of appreciation for the Lankan legend. “It has been different! Ricky Ponting was a different individual, and Mahela is a different individual. Having said that, both of them come with vast experiences, they have immense knowledge about the game. All I wanted to do, was to understand how they deal with situations when they were playing. Both of them were captains for their respective countries as well, and that helped me. I got to learn a lot of things and those helped me on the field. This is where the IPL is so good. You get to meet and be with so many international players – it makes you a better indibidual.”

Rohit has been a key member for us ever since he has come into the Mumbai Indians setup. He is happy leading the side and wants to be here. “I would definitely want to play for my home state, having played all my cricket here in Mumbai. I have lived all my life here and would love to stay here. We don’t know what the rules and regulations are going to be like (as of now). We will have to wait and watch. We would be happy to retain the whole squad if possible.”

Rohit’s captaincy has been up to the mark over the years. His decision making ability and proactive thinking has been top notch. He has learnt a lot and honed his captaincy skills at Mumbai Indians. “Captaining Mumbai Indians has helped me a lot, not only my game, but also as a human being. When you are given so much responsibility, you mature as a person too. I’ve been learning and growing as a human being. Captaincy is something I have enjoyed for the past four years with Mumbai. If you win the trophy, it looks good. Last year, we had a tough time, not qualifying for the Playoffs, but we backed all the individuals we have, to do the job this year and they came out and delivered. This is the hallmark of the team – whenever we have played, we have never looked back. We’ve always moved forward! Whether we lost or won a game, the attitude was very similar, it never changed. These were the heartening things to see. I’ve always wanted to inspire the team as a captain. I’m very happy with the way things are with MI right now and I’m looking forward to a few more years.”

The Mumbai-Pune rivalry was at its peak this season. The two cities have a bitter-sweet rivalry outside of sport anyway, and this year we met four times extending the rivalry on the field too. Rohit clarified that all the boys were looking to do was play their game and put their best feet forward on the field. “There is always excitement among people, especially in Maharashtra, when Mumbai play Pune in cricket. Before the final, we didn’t have a good ride against them. We played them thrice and lost all the games. However, we didn’t go into the final with a mind-set of proving anything. We just wanted to play our game, which we couldn’t in our three previous meetings with Pune. We wanted to focus around our team and our game. We scored 130 and the batting wasn’t too great. We were aiming to get close to 140-150, as the wicket wasn’t too easy to bat on. We knew though, that this pitch wouldn’t be easy for them to bat on either. We spoke about our bowlers doing their usual job in the change-room during the innings break. “Rohit came into the 10th season after a lengthy injury lay-off. The successful, title-winning run in the IPL has boosted his confidence to high levels. “No team has won the IPL thrice and that is a big achievement for me as a player and for the team. I will just look to carry this confidence forward. We’ve played well all these years, and that is exactly what we need to do in the future too.”

Rohit Sharma was in awe of Mahela Jayawardene’s calm nature and explained how it wore off on the entire team. “His calmness is what stands out. Throughout the season, he has been someone who has been able to settle a lot of players down and ensured that they kept themselves under check. That is how he has played his cricket. He has always been calm and composed when he was playing for his county too. It reflected on all of us, it really helped us. Whenever we won, the energy was at a medium level and whenever we lost, it was still at that level – it never changed. That is very good to see. You can focus a lot more when your attitude doesn’t change and stays constant. He has done that throughout the season and it was my first experience with Mahela. All of us enjoyed working with him.”

Parthiv Patel has had an outstanding season, right from scoring runs in domestic cricket, lifting the Ranji Trphy and now ending up as the leading run-scorer for the champions in the tenth edition of the IPL. Parthiv was pleased with the outcome of his batting and the season. “I probably had a dream season! Winning the Ranji Trophy for Gujarat was special and making a Test comeback was something I wanted to do before I finished playing. Winning the IPL is very special too. It is a long tournament. You have to make sure that the team stays together for the longest time. Rohit and the coaching staff was very supportive throughout the season and they kept us in that ‘middle bubble’ as Rohit mentioned. Getting those runs was nice. Every time we had a good opening partnership, we went on to score a lot of runs. If we start well in the T20 format, it helps the bigger players like Rohit and Pollard to play freely as well. I’m happy that I finished as the highest run-getter, but the most important thing is to win trophies. I’m glad I’ve been a part of this setup.”

We mostly had a settled line-up throughout the tournament. The only time we made a bunch of changes was before our last league game. However, Rohit Sharma said that he didn’t have to mull a lot over selecting the playing XI for the final. “It was a straightforward selection. I didn’t see a need to change the team, as everybody had an impact. I know that there are a lot of guys who miss out during the season, but we all know that it’s only 11 players who can take the field. A lot of the guys who had terrific seasons in domestic cricket and are good talents, missed out, but their attitude has been great. I’m sure they will come back very hard next year.”

Krunal has been a pivotal player for us! His bowling and his ability to adjust his bating styles has been very commendable. Rohit was all praises for the young all-rounder. “You’ve seen how expressive the two brothers are throughout the season and it brings about a good performance out of them. Krunal understands his game really well. Whenever we asked him to bat higher up the order, he has never looked out of the comfort zone. He has always adapted to situations. When we want him to finish games, he has done that. When we wanted him to go and absorb the pressure and rotate strike, he did that as well. It shows that he has got a lot of maturity and has a bright future. He is a brilliant bowler, is very sharp and thinks about his bowling quite a lot. Working with Bondy has helped him a lot. He is a great prospect for Indian cricket in the future.”

Focus shifted to Jasprit Bumrah yet again and Shane Bond considers him as one of the best T20 bowlers at the moment and has the potential to become a world-class bowler soon. “He makes me look good when he bowls the way he does. He is always put under pressure in our team to bowl the tough overs. He has got the skills and the temperament to do it. He has done that for Mumbai and for India. When we look at our bowling attack, we try and balance parts of it around him. When you look at our team, you’d think Malinga is the death bowler, but Harbhajan has done it for us too. We had to tweak our bowling attack based on Bumrah’s bowling at the back end. Then we started to use Malinga through the middle, more as a defensive bowler and that is why we brought the leg-spinner (Karn) as an attacking option. When you start to base your bowling attack around ‘A’ bowler like Jasprit, it tells you a lot about his quality. I think he’ll definitely play Test cricket and will be a world class bowler across all formats.” Rohit added to Bond’s points too. “I don’t want to call him the number 1 bowler in the world. Right now, he’s doing a great job and I’d like him to continue doing that. When he sees all these things, it will only add pressure on him. He knows what his capabilities are and he has shown it through the tournament. He came and bowled the Super Over to probably two of the most dangerous T20 batsmen – McCullum and Finch, defending 11 runs. He has all the ability to become the number 1 bowler.”

Mumbai Indians have toppled records over with the third title and it all boiled down to contributions from all the boys and the support staff. Of all the three finals that we have featured in, this was probably the most hard-fought victories. In each of them our bowlers showed that T20 cricket isn’t necessarily a batsman’s game if bowlers come to the fore and use their skills to restrict top-quality batsmen. We are the first team to win the IPL thrice and last night gave us many moments which we will cherish for years to come.