By Admin 
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya said after the victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Sunday that he had to wait a long time (13 sessions) to win the first match of the season.
Mumbai Indians have always been a slow starting team in the IPL. The team last won its first match in the IPL in April 2012 in which it defeated Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets. The team won the title five times between 2013 and 2020, but the losing streak continued in the first match.
With a partnership of 148 runs for the first wicket with half-centuries from Rohit Sharma (78 runs) and Ryan Rickleton (81 runs), Mumbai Indians defeated KKR by six wickets and ended their 13-season losing streak in the first match of the tournament.
Pandya said, “Had to wait a long time to win the first match of the season. Whenever we took the field, we always thought of starting the season on a strong note. The whole team is very happy that we were able to do this. ”
After being invited to bat, KKR scored 220 runs for four wickets in 20 overs with half-centuries from captain Ajinkya Rahane (67) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (51).
Regarding chasing this big score, he said, “Considering the current mood and pitch in cricket, it is credit to our bowlers that they did not allow KKR to reach the score of 240 or 250 runs. These targets become difficult but a score of 220 can be achieved. ”
With the help of Rohit (43 balls, four fours and eight sixes) and Rickleton (38 balls, six fours, six sixes), Mumbai Indians won by scoring 224 runs for four wickets in 19.1 overs. Pandya said, “Rohit and Rickleton performed tremendously. ”
On choosing between Rickleton and Quinton de Kock, he said, “Ryan did very well for us last year. And Quinny is a wonderful person. He understood that we were supporting one player and wanted to maintain continuity in the team. This method worked. Whenever I see Rohit playing some shots, everyone is surprised. His batting is not excellent but tremendous. ”
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