Jonty Rhodes affirms Mumbai Indians victory was a team effort

Former Protean middle-order batsman and Mumbai Indians fielding coach, Jonty Rhodes, expressed that it was due to fantastic teamwork displayed during the tournament that the team was able to lift the IPL trophy. The electric fielder made this revelation in a recent event at Mangaluru for the promotion of Indian Open of Surfing.

Mumbai Indians won their third Indian Premier League this season under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. Mumbai Indians also topped the IPL table throughout the tournament as they won 10 matches out of the 14 during the round-robin stages.

Various players within the squad put their hands up whenever required. Players such as Nitish Rana, Karn Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Krunal Pandya had been exceptional throughout apart from the foreign contingency in the squad. Jonty Rhodes, who has been an integral member of the Mumbai Indians staff since its inception, made the statement looking at the contribution from each individual within the team.

“What made the Mumbai victory special was that not one player was the top of the runs, top of the wickets etc. This was a complete team effort. Different players at different times performed and took the team home. Even the way we won the final.” quoted the South African according to sportstarlive.com

“It was a low-scoring game. Sure, we had to have a man of the match, but it wasn’t one player who was outstanding throughout. Everybody performed and that sums up the season for MI — consolidated effort by the team,” he further added.

He further augmented about the challenges one faces while playing the shortest format of the game even though it is not considered as the purest form of the game. He also emphasized the importance of fielding in the shortest format.

“Twenty-over cricket, some purists will say, is not the real form of the game but the intensity that you play — batting, bowling, and fielding — makes every ball count. And that’s where you want to see good fielding. You might want to try and hide one or two players, but in T20 there is no place to hide. The ball finds you.” concluded the fielding coach of Mumbai Indians.