IPL 2018: Mumbai Indians to have flexible batting plan - Suryakumar Yadav

Following a poor start to the season, Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma put his hand up in the last IPL match, promoting himself to No 3 and successfully chasing down a tricky total set by Chennai Super Kings.

The MI skipper made an unbeaten 56 to steer what eventually turned out to be an easy chase. It is yet to be seen whether this decision would be the turning point for Mumbai Indians as their skipper takes up a bigger responsibility by playing in pressure situations. His team is languishing at sixth in the league table with four points from seven games.

“It was a great thing that he put his hand up in pressure situations. At that stage it was very important for an experienced player to go out and win the game. We are very happy for that. But in the coming games, we have kept ourselves flexible in our batting order,” said batsman Suryakumar Yadav, who leads the run charts for Mumbai Indians.

Mumbai Indians will take on another struggling team, Royal Challengers Bangalore, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday.

PLANS TO FINISH

Rohit, Suryakumar pointed out, had initially come in the middle-order as he wanted to play till the end. However, that did not materialise into runs. Barring the 94 he scored against Royal Challengers Bangalore at No 4 earlier in Mumbai, his highest in the middle-order was 18.

“For him to come lower down the order, maybe he wanted to take more responsibility and play till the end. It is good in the last game he came up. It was his call to take that responsibility. In the coming games we will see more of it,” he said.

Mumbai Indians have had the better of Royal Challengers Bangalore in recent times, even at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, and that gives them a head-start going into this important game. They have won their last five games against RCB, including the last three here.

Suryakumar refused to read too much into it. “What has gone has gone, and is history. Earlier, RCB too had beaten MI in five games. What we do on the day is more important,” he said.

One thing going for MI is the soaring confidence after beating CSK in the last match.

“At that stage of the tournament after seven games, it was very important for us to win. Beating the best side of the tournament coming into this game, ahead of the second part of the tournament, is good for us.”