On the eve of MI's third encounter against RCB, Skipper Rohit Sharma spoke to the fans and took them behind-the-scenes during the second episode of Captain's Corner.

We understood where we went wrong against CSK

Mumbai Indians started off their campaign with a loss against Chennai Super Kings. Rohit asserted that it was a learning curve for the team and had vowed to come back stronger.

"So, leading up to the CSK game the preparation was really good. On the game day against CSK, we knew it wasn't going to be an easy game for us. We started off really well, we got a good start. It's just that we failed to capitalise on starts. It was a lot of learning for us. We understood where we went wrong and what we can do as a team to come out stronger."

We stuck to our plans against KKR and did pretty well

MI did well to not repeat the same mistakes against KKR. Rohit led from the front as he tried to stay till the end overs and in the process, also took the team to a massive total. His knock of 80 (54) also won him the Man of the Match award.

"We had a few days in between to understand what we need to do as a team. We regrouped, we understood what we needed to do on that kind of a pitch. We spoke about the change-ups. We spoke about as a batting group if one batsman is in, he needs to carry on, especially the top four batsmen. Whoever is in, needs to spend some time in the middle and bat for a longer time. Everything went according to plan, exactly what we had decided. We knew we had to work hard, stick to our plans and I think we did that pretty well."

Amit has played a very important role in our team's success

The captain again took up the anchor's role. Rohit had revealed in his first episode that he was going to take the fans across the people who put a lot of effort behind the scenes. His latest guest on Captain's Corner was Sports Massage Therapist Amit Shah who shared his experience with Mumbai Indians

Here we take you through the excerpts of their conversation:

Rohit: "So, guys this is our physio room and we have got a great setup. This compartment is all about medical facilities like we have tapes, pain relief, sprays, sanitisers which is used quite a lot these days. We have got an ultrasound machine here as well so if a player is going through a niggle or something and you want to see something, you don’t want to take the risk of going to the hospital, you can just do it right here. I’ll take you to one of the members in our support staff who has played a very important role in our team's success, Mr Amit Shah. I have known him for 11 years, we have had a great relationship together. How is your experience being at Mumbai Indians?"

Amit Shah: "Rohit to be honest this is one of the best working setups and team environment, professionally. MI always treats everyone as a family member but this is the most comfortable environment we have. So we feel like we are at home and we are working among our family members, so it’s amazing."

Rohit: "Different players come up with different injury problems and different kinds of stiffness, how do you manage that?"

Amit: "Every player has their demands, their body type demands. We have to ensure that a player’s recovery when you go to the field is up to the mark. Physically as well as mentally so what we do is we work on your muscles; we try to keep you guys fit and ensure that you aren’t worried about your body when you are on the field so you can just focus on the game. That is our main goal."

Rohit: "So, guys this is not any luxurious spa massages that you get. This is very sport centric, sports-related so they go particularly very deep into the muscle, very technical and very scientific. We have got a fast bowler lying here, Mr Dhawal Kulkarni. He’s taking a deep tissue massage because he had a very long session, there’s some sort of stiffness."

Amit: "He’s currently working on his upper back and the lower back. So Dhawal has had many practice sessions, and he’s trying to recover himself and getting out of his stiffness. He’s working on his lower back."

Rohit: "Dhawal, how do you feel? How important is it to take the regular sports specific massage?"

Dhawal Kulkarni: "Yeah, it is very important being a fast bowler, you tend to get tight, stiff and the muscles a lot tensed when you bowl when you are on the field. So, the best way to recover is by getting a proper massage."

Rohit: "By the time the game finishes and we come back to the hotel it’s pretty late, it’s almost midnight. These guys do a great job behind the scenes and we must appreciate that."

He concluded the segment by thanking Shah for the valuable insights. Rohit mentioned that he was a crucial part of the MI setup.

Fan Questions

In the end, Rohit finally took some questions from the Paltan that were sent across.

Aarav Sharma (Mumbai): "As you are a master of hitting sixes, can you please give us some tips of hitting long sixes?"

Rohit: "It's very good but what I will advise you right now is to play straight drive, cover drive, how to defend the ball, how to leave the ball because that is the basics of batting. So I want you to do the basics of your batting first and then I’ll advise you on how to hit sixes. I’ll be here for you don’t worry!"

Reagan Caesar (Mumbai): "Congratulations Rohit on completing 10 years with Mumbai Indians. Do you remember the playing XI of your first match for Mumbai Indians?"

Rohit: "I’ll try, I think I remember it, my first playing XI, Davy Jacobs and Sachin Tendulkar opened the innings, No 3 was Ambati Rayudu, No 4 was Rohit Sharma, No 5 was Kieron Pollard, 6 was James Franklin, 7 was R Satish, 8 was Harbajan Singh, 9 was Ali Murtaza, 10 was Lasith Malinga and 11 was Munaf Patel. I remember Malinga took five wickets in that game, he was the man of the match and I was some 20 odds not out, 25 odds not out. That was my first game and I clearly remember it."

Eventually, Rohit signed off and promised to bring up more stirring stuff for the fans from the MI dressing room.

"I’m going to keep bringing you very exciting stuff from the team environment, team dressing room. We’ve finished our two games in Abu Dhabi now, it's time to hit the roads and we’re going to play in Dubai now, the next game. It's going to be a long journey from Abu Dhabi to Dubai. We are all ready for it and we’ve got a fun team activity session planned. Watch this space for more."