'Nobody should have said anything' - Sunil Gavaskar feels 'break in momentum' put the skids on Mohit Sharma's rhythm

Mohit Sharma had a fairytale comeback to the IPL after three years as he finished as the joint second-highest wicket-taker of the season with 27 scalps to his name from 14 innings at an average of 13.37 and an economy of 8.17. The 34-year-old continued his brilliant form in the final as well, as he picked up big wickets of Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu.

However, he ended up conceding ten runs in the last two balls of the match as CSK clinched their fifth IPL title. Commenting on the last over, former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that the seamer bowled the first four balls brilliantly where he conceded just three runs. However, a break in between the over, where he was offered some water, broke his rhythm.

“He had bowled the first 3-4 delivery absolutely brilliantly. Then, for some strange reason, some water was sent to him. In the middle of the over, some drink was sent to him. Then Hardik Pandya came and spoke with him. You know when a bowler is in that rhythm, and he is mentally also there, nobody should have said anything to him,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Gavaskar further said that Mohit’s teammates should’ve appreciated him from a distance and not spoken to him directly, which got him out of focus.

I do not think that was the right thing to do: Sunil Gavaskar

“Maybe from a distance, they could have just said ‘well bowled'. Going to them, talking to him – I do not think that was the right thing to do because suddenly, he was looking here and there. Till then, he was focused, and I do not think what they did was the right idea. Because after that, he went for runs,” he added.

With ten runs needed off the last two balls, Ravindra Jadeja ended up hitting the GT seamer for a straight six and a boundary off the last two balls to chase down the revised target of 171 in 15 overs. As a result, CSK went all the way to win their fifth IPL trophy and got level with Mumbai Indians in terms of the most IPL trophies won by a franchise.