Rohit Sharma has now led Mumbai Indians thrice into the Indian Premier League (IPL) final. The first time he did so was in 2013, when he took over the reins from Ricky Ponting mid-way through the season. Back then, we lost the first Qualifier, won the second one and went on to lift the trophy for the first time. Then in 2015, we were unstoppable as we won the IPL for the second time. Fast forward to 2017, we have an opportunity to become the first team in IPL history to win the league three times. Rohit was a happy man after our comprehensive victory against Kolkata Knight Riders in the second Qualifier in Bengaluru.

In the first Qualifier, Mumbai Indians lost to Rising Pune Supergiant, a team we haven’t managed to beat yet, in this season. Rohit Sharma is satisfied that our boys regrouped and got themselves back up to put in an authoritative performance in Bengaluru. “We have been working really hard and have been doing that throughout the tournament. We don’t want to shy away from going into the final, the hard way. I thought that’s what we deserve – we deserve to be in the final. We have played some really good cricket throughout the tournament. Today was a perfect example of that; we played a great game.”

The bowlers dictated terms to the KKR batsman and a victory like this Rohit believes is the best way to get into a final, “When you have a performance like this, it gives you a lot of confidence. The bowlers set the game up perfectly for us. The way they came out and bowled in the middle was very pleasing to the eye. Taking wickets at regular intervals and keeping the scoreboard under control – that was very good stuff by our bowlers. We knew that the wicket was never going to be easy and we always wanted to restrict them to the bare minimum. Karn Sharma bowled exceptionally for us and set the game up.”

This season has been about team-work for Mumbai Indians. There hasn’t been any one batsman who we have depended upon and the same goes for the bowlers as well. Rohit had a few words of appreciation for the way our boys have played together as a team, “That (team-work) has been the hallmark of this team. We have not depended on one individual. Each individual has come in at different points of the game and put their hands up, and won the game for us. We don’t have any of our batsman in the top 5 (run-getters list) and the same goes for bowlers, except for Mitchell McClenaghan. This shows that it’s all about team-work and we have been doing that regularly. It’s good to see that every individual is taking up responsibility. It’s always good for the captain and doesn’t cause too much headache either. It has really worked for us and that is what we are here for now.”

Rohit’s captaincy has been a level higher than most in the IPL, this year. He has rung in bowling changes at the right time and the field placements have been brave and tactical too. The skipper explained what goes on in his mind and credited the ones who are thoroughly involved in making tactics and strategy. “It’s not me, it’s something we have been talking about (Bumrah bowling the first over). We all know Bumrah is a wicket-taking bowler, and Kolkata have a top-heavy batting order. We wanted to get those guys out as quickly as possible. That was the plan and sometimes it may work, sometimes it doesn’t. When it doesn’t work, it looks very bad. But it’s the team-work, like I said.

“We have been working off the field to understand what the opposition come up with, their strengths and weaknesses. It’s not about me, I just go and execute what I’ve been told. Sometimes, I rely on my instincts as well, the gut feeling changes at times. We kept changing our bowlers around. In this format, it may get easy for batsmen if we keep bowling the same bowler. It’s necessary to keep changing and keep the batsmen guessing. That has been happening throughout the tournament and I hope it continues for one more game (the final).”

Rising Pune Supergiant are playing their first IPL final, while we have been there thrice, and have won it twice in the past. Rohit Sharma is looking forward to the final and despite the recent history of not having beaten RPS, the team is not going to let it come in their way, “It’s going to be an exciting contest! They have been playing some good cricket and we don’t have a great history against that team. Having said that, we will have to focus on what we have got to do as a team. Hyderabad is a completely different venue. We need to assess the conditions as quickly as possible and move forward. We’ve seen this throughout the tournament – when you play at the Wankhede, there are different conditions, when you come to Bangalore it is different. It’s all about getting used to the conditions and moving forward. We’ve been doing really well as a team and have just one more hurdle to cross.”

It’s great to know that our captain has very few headaches with our boys playing well as a group. It can get very taxing for a captain in this format with the dynamic nature and a lot of quick decisions need to be made. Our think tank has been spot on with a lot of their strategies – the work on and off the field have complemented each other. All of it needs to come together one more time this season, when we take the field in Hyderabad against Rising Pune Supergiant in the final on Sunday. Our boys are confident and we just need to ensure that we play the better cricket on the day to make that title ours again.