Skipper Rohit Sharma reveals the major reason behind Mumbai's successful title defence

Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma told his teammates that the side was disciplined on the field throughout the tournament and that is the main reason why they stand with the title. The title-holders got the better of defiant Delhi in the tournament decider that was played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. Rohit Sharma & Co. were just too good for the first-time finalists in the summit clash as they successfully retained their title with an emphatic win by five wickets. 

By the virtue of this win, they also won the marquee tournament for a record fifth time.

'We were disciplined': Rohit Sharma

"Firstly, big congratulations to all of us. It was a great season for us, our season did not start in August, we started preparing way before. I remember it was during some tough times in June, we started preparing and it was never going to be easy. Once we came here, it was a new environment for us, not going outside the hotel but we were disciplined as a team and we were disciplined on the field as well that is why we stand with the IPL trophy," Rohit said in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of Mumbai Indians.

"Guys who haven't gotten to play at all in this tournament, I would like to thank them for their constant energy, they were quite positive and we never felt like that they were disappointed to not be in the playing XI," he added.

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Mumbai successfully retain their title

Delhi were reduced to 22/3 after winning the toss and electing to bat first in their maiden final appearance. Skipper Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant then added 96 runs for the fourth-wicket stand. Skipper Iyer remained unbeaten and played a crucial knock of a 50-ball 65 as Delhi finished their innings at 156/7 from their 20 overs.

In reply, Iyer's opposite number Rohit Sharma successfully anchored Mumbai's run chase as he toyed around with the Delhi bowlers by smashing them to all parts of the ground. The 'Hitman' played a spectacular knock of a 51-ball 68 at a strike rate of 133.33 including five boundaries and four maximums. Apart from anchoring the innings, the elegant opener was also involved in a couple of good partnerships with his opening partner Quinton de Kock & Suryakumar Yadav. 

When Rohit was eventually dismissed in the 17th over it appeared that Delhi would somehow stage a comeback in the contest but it was not to be as Ishan Kishan and Krunal Pandya helped the reigning champions cross the finish line with 8 balls to spare. 

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(With ANI Inputs)

(Image Courtesy: IPL Twitter)