Despite his Mumbai Indians side having the upper hand over Chennai Super Kings throughout the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign, skipper Rohit Sharma is not looking back at the past ahead of Sunday’s final at Hyderabad.
The two most successful franchises in IPL history lock horns in the final with a record fourth title on offer for both sides. Mumbai hold the slight advantage ahead of the final courtesy of having beaten the defending champions thrice over the course of the IPL 2019 campaign.
In three previous IPL finals between the two sides, it is Mumbai who have enjoyed greater success with two victories. However, all that counts for little for Rohit ahead of the summit clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International cricket stadium.
“We have to play good cricket,” the Mumbai skipper stated on the eve of the IPL final.
“For us as a team, it’s important to focus on the day, and think about how we can win the game rather than what has happened in the past, what our team or the opposition has done. For us, as long as I’m concerned, the focus will be on the game and how we can play a good one.
MI's recent H2H record against CSK is astonishing & is evidence of how a team can exploit a match-up. Overall MI have won 17 of their 29 matches v CSK. They've won 7 of the last 8 (despite having lost 6 of the 8 tosses) & have won six in a row in fortress Chepauk. #IPL #MIvCSK
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) May 8, 2019
“We will not focus on what has happened in the past, who has won trophies how many times etc. We have to treat this as another match and that is what we have done through the tournament.”
Having beaten CSK in the first Qualifier, Mumbai Indians have enjoyed a four-day break ahead of Sunday’s final but Rohit is not worried about any disruption in the team’s momentum.
“We have been on the road for a while, we were playing back to back games,” Rohit said.
“We are fortunate to have finished on the top of the table, qualify in the first play-off and get three to four days break. Everyone needed one. We could rejuvenate, come back together as a group and get together better and move forward.
“I don’t think it’s a momentum breaker to have three to four days off. In fact, I look at it in a positive way.”
