Kolkata, April 9 (IANS) Mumbai Indians’ captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday said his bowlers’ failure to get enough breakthroughs upfront was primarily responsible for the seven wicket defeat to the Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) in the Indian Premier League opener here at Eden Gardens.
Replying to the Mumbai Indians’ 168/3, the home side got over the line with seven wickets and nine deliveries to spare. courtesy knocks from skipper Gautam Gambhir (57), Suryakumar Yadav(46) and Manish Pandey(40).
Mumbai could jolt KKR only once in the first ten overs as they saw the back of opener Robin Uthappa.
“We could just get one wicket upfront, there were no other breakthroughs, their domestic batters were good, they played according to the situations, but there’s still time. We won’t drop our heads,” said Rohit who scored an unbeaten 98 in the match.
Speaking on his Mumbai team-mate Surya kumar who plays for the men in purple in the IPL, Rohit said, “He is a very talented youngster, plays according to his strengths and has become a lot more matured than what he used to be, I wish him luck.”
Asked if both of his spinners Pragyan Ojha and Harbhajan Singh bowled way too short to the KKR batsmen, the skipper said,”The spinners were trying to vary their length and keep them guessing they were trying really hard but it just did not pay off today.”