That was a really amazing match. the way the bowlers have shown courage, it was amazing. To be honest, this award goes to the bowling unit because it's not easy to stop a batting unit on this ground, so the credit goes to them. The way the fast bowlers executed their plans was great. The way Krunal has bowled was amazing. In the last over, it was not easy, I think the way he has bowled and the courage he has shown is amazing. At that time it was clear that we have to take the game deep. So, the discussion was to take the game deep and use KP's one over at the last. The wicket was good and the ball was coming on nicely to the bat. After the Hardik Pandya over, I went all out. The wrist spinner is one of the main bowlers because they are wicket-taking and the way he bowled was great.
The bond that we (Hardik and I) have, we knew there was only one Pandya that was supposed to win, the love and affection we have for each other is very natural. He (Hardik) batted really well and I feel for him, but we (our team) won and that is most important. When I came onto bowl, Santner was batting and leg side was shorter and the amount of games I played here in the last 10 years, at some point the experience had to come in. As a bowler, sometimes you want to commit and it is important to commit 100 percent and it helps in execution. Andy (Flower) and I were there for 2 years in LSG and it was good to know Andy from personal space and the way we are going as a team, we are in a very good head space. Rajat has been terrific in the way he has started and he gives you the confidence and backs your game plan as well. He is very calm and does not complicate things. Jitesh has been terrific, he has improved his game and the game awareness he has while batting is top-notch. With the gloves he has always been exceptional. I just want to keep my head down and keep winning.
It was a run-fest. The wicket was really good. I was just talking about that to myself that again we fell short with two hits, I don't have much to say. (Was 221 par or above-par?) The way the wicket was, the bowers didn't really have much place to hide. It came down to execution. You can stop the batters but I don't want to be harsh on the bowlers. It was a tough track, not many options we had. (No. 3 position) The original skeleton of our team, Naman was always batting down the order. It's just that in the last game, Ro wasn't available, so we had to push someone up and someone like him has the multi-dimensional game where he can come up as well and can play in the death as well. Once Ro was back, we knew that Naman would have to come down. Tilak was fantastic. Last game, a lot of things happened. People made a lot of things about it but people don't know that he had a very nasty hit previous day. It was a tactical call but because of the finger which he had, the coach just felt that that was a better option that someone fresh can come and do it. Today, he was fantastic. In this sort of games, powerplays are very crucial. Couple of overs we were not able to get in the middle, that put us back in the chase. It comes down to execution in the death - we were not able to play those balls. Having him (Bumrah) makes any team in the world very special. He came in and did his job, very happy to have him. In life, never back down, always see the positive side of it. Go out there, try to play the best cricket of your life and back yourself. We are all backing them, just hope for the result to come our way.
"In the first game that was played at this stadium in this season, KKR were bowled out for 116 but that was on pitch number 6, this is pitch number 8 today. Dimensions - 66m and 61m square boundaries, 74m straight. It's a little windy today - gusting up to 36 kph, you just wonder whether that's gonna have an effect on the dew. We know that when the dew comes here at the Wankhede, the ball flies everywhere and teams generally like to chase. I think that might have an influence tonight. When we look down at this surface, it's rock hard, it's got an even coverage of grass but it's a little bit bare. Don't expect a lot of spin on this surface and it should be a high-scoring surface. Mumbai have found it tough in the powerplay. They have got two of the all time legends in the IPL - Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar and they've found it hard in the powerplay so far. Whereas when you look at RCB, the best economy rate in the powerplay in this IPL so far and that's with the class and bounce of Josh Hazlewood and the experience of Bhuvneshwar Kumar who has been brilliant. It'll be interesting to see if there's any movement with this gusting wind out here."