Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has a simple formula for the team’s domination of the Indian Premier League (IPL): “Sheer brilliance.”
It is difficult to argue with his claim after Mumbai crushed the Delhi Capitals by five wickets in Dubai on Tuesday to take their fifth title and cement their place as the IPL’s most successful side.
Some doubted Mumbai as they went into the tournament, moved to empty stadiums in the United Arab Emirates because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: AFP
Mumbai had never won back-to-back titles and never triumphed in an even year.
“Superstitions,” coach Mahela Jayawardene said.
Between the hard-hitting runs of Sharma and fellow opener Quinton de Kock, and the devastating fast bowling of Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah, Mumbai swept aside everything in their path this year.
Photo: AFP
“It’s not rocket science, we have worked really hard for this balance, these players,” Sharma said. “It was just sheer brilliance from each individual, putting their hand up at different stages. The balance and the strength of this team lies in individual belief.”
“We said at the start we want to make winning a habit, and you couldn’t have asked any more from the guys,” he said.
Bankrolled by Nita Ambani — wife of Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man — Mumbai pick and choose their players carefully, and make sure they are cosseted once accepted into the fold.
The main tactic has been to steamroll opponents from the start, with the bat or ball.
“Big-hitting has been in Mumbai Indians’ DNA for a long time,” Jayawardene said.
“I’ve been here 11 years, fifth trophy,” said veteran West Indies player Kieron Pollard, who led the side when Sharma was injured. “No one sees the planning and training, it’s pressure playing for a franchise like this.”
“The amount of trophies, the amount of talent that’s there, you can say Mumbai Indians is the best T20 team going around,” Pollard said.
Mumbai, who won the finals in 2013, 2015, 2017 and last year, stormed into this season’s final by finishing top of the league stage. They beat Delhi four times over the season.
Man-of-the-match Boult set up victory in the final with three wickets, including one strike off the first ball of the match and a quick follow-up in his second over.
Sharma hit 68 from 51 deliveries in his team’s comfortable run chase, which was completed with eight balls to spare.
Shreyas Iyer (65 not out from 50 deliveries) and Rishabh Pant (56 from 38) were the main contributors as Delhi posted a below-par 156-7.
Mumbai’s back-to-back titles have left their nearest rivals, M.S. Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings, floundering.
Three-time winners Chennai failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time.
Sharma, 33, who has now been captain for seven years, missed a few games with a hamstring injury, but the final was his 200th IPL appearance and the winning formula is unlikely to change.
South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman De Kock played a key part in Mumbai’s two successive titles, with 503 runs this year alone and some brave catches and takes.
“I think the guys really did hard work to make sure we can hold on to the title two years in a row,” De Kock said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
American rugby sevens star Ilona Maher is to join 15-a-side club Bristol next month in a bid to play in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, the English club announced on Monday. Maher, 28, helped the US to a bronze medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris and is the seven-a-side sport’s most popular player on social media. “This is a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal,” Bristol head coach Dave Ward said. “She is one of the biggest names in women’s sport, let alone rugby, and we believe she will
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LeBron James is in quite the shooting slump — especially from long distance, highlighted by his zero-for-four effort from three-point range for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 109-80 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. That return stretched the nearly-40-year-old’s skid to zero-for-19 from deep over his past four games. James’ birthday is on Dec. 30. After going four-for-16 from the floor overall with six of his team’s 20 turnovers for a season-low 10 points against the Timberwolves, James was asked to reflect on the Lakers reaching the quarter mark of their 2024-2025 schedule under rookie coach J.J. Redick at 12-9. “I
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
RSS