Mumbai Indians were able to dominate the playing field in their game against Kings XI Punjab for two reasons: One, Parthiv – Rayudu partnership and two, Bumrah and McClenaghan’s scalp hunt. So it will come as no surprise that with both ends being taken care of, MI got a smooth victory with KXIP wickets dropping like flies in the end.

Parthiv’s contribution of 81 runs from 58 balls is what set the tone for the game and is what actually gave MI the edge over KXIP. But Parthiv being the humble man he is, says it was Rayudu that made it easier for him and the team to surge ahead against the KXIP offensive. “I think having a skilled batsman by your side makes the job easier. I played 5 innings and I couldn’t get going but having a skilled batsman to compliment you, can take a bit of pressure off your back and Rayudu did exactly that. Every time we needed to get going, we did, as we smashed sixes or got boundaries. It actually helped a lot. We talked about getting to 180, because we felt the wicket was on a drier side. So we thought 180 would be a good score.”

After the fall of the captain, their lead run-scorer, Parthiv felt that he needed to stick around long enough to steer the team in the right direction as the captain would have. “I think the wicket was slow and on the dry side to begin with. In the last few games, we lost too many wickets early on. So we had to make sure we don’t lose too many wickets. And if we have wickets in hand at the end of the games, then we can take the risk and score a lot of runs. That was the plan.”
Parthiv asserts what his fellow team members have held to be true, that the bowlers play a crucial role in a team’s defensive and offensive strategy. He is all praises for Bumrah and McClenaghan. “It’s very important to have good bowlers on your side. We have seen that in a lot of teams, if you don’t have good bowlers, no matter how many runs you score you are bound to run into trouble. Mitch is the purple cap holder right now and Jasprit is in fantastic form. He has bowled brilliantly from the Australian tour to the Asia cup. Now he is here with me just like in the Ranji trophy days. He has worked very hard throughout the off season. I am very happy with the work he has put in and he is getting the results.”