Krunal Pandya understands his bowling well and it helps me as a captain, says Rohit

MUMBAI INDIANS CAPTAIN ROHIT SHARMA said that he was pleased to have found the right balance in the team early on in the cash-rich tournament. The defending champions chased down a total of 171 against Royal Challengers Bangalore with two overs to spare. 

Despite Coach Ricky Ponting saying on the eve of the match that the skipper might continue batting in the middle order, Rohit opened alongside wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel striking 62 off 44 balls.

As reported by Cricbuzz, the 28-year-old credited Mumbai’s scouting team for identifying the right players for different situations.

"As a captain of the team it's always important to get the right balance as soon as you can. Lot of the domestic players, with so much of international cricket we play, we actually don't get to see them. We've got lot of scouts who go and scout people, see how they perform and what their capabilities are. We've got a lot of inputs from our scouts. It's important to get that combination right, it's not just for Mumbai Indians, it'll probably be the case with all the teams to get the combination right because lot of players come from different parts of the world. Luckily we've got such a great management who keep giving those inputs to us as to how we can fit certain guys into the team."

Sharma further added,

 "I think we've got a nice and balanced squad right now and hopefully they can continue to play for a longer period of time and perform the way they need to.” 

The team skipper also showered praise over Krunal Pandya’s consistency. The young all-rounder, who was acquired by MI for Rs 2 Crores early this year, took two crucial wickets against RCB, getting aggressive top-order batsmen Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers. 

"He has been impressive, no doubt about that. Even in the first game here against Gujarat Lions, he didn't get wickets but bowled four overs for just 20 runs. And then he did well with the bat against Hyderabad, scored 49 off just 25 or 26 balls. Again today getting those two important wickets (AB and Kohli) in the middle was very crucial from the team's perspective. He knows his bowling really well and understands the conditions really well. It makes my job a lot easier as captain. He sets his own field. When as a bowler if you can set your own field it shows a lot of confidence in your bowling."