Rohit Sharma talks about Mumbai lifting IPL trophy, Mitchell Johnson and more

Mumbai Indians players are ecstatic after winning the IPL10 title as Rising Pune Supergiantsrsquo Daniel Christian left is dejected in Hyderabad last night PicsPTI AFPBy captaining Mumbai Indians to their third title Rohit Sharma has now become the most successful skipper in Indian Premier League history Quite naturally he was on cloud nine when he addressed the media after Mumbai Indians onerun win over Rising Pune Supergiant RPS at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal here yesterdayDuring the interaction Rohit spoke about MIs preparation precise planning for the final the execution of plans to perfection those crucial spurofthemoment decisions on the field and of course that euphoric feeling of lifting the cup for the third timeExcerptsOne which one of the three IPL titles is specialAll three titles are special We defeated the same opponents Chennai Super Kings in 2013 and 2015 after losing to them in 2010 And this year we defeated the side which had beaten us thrice before in this edition It is all about how you prepare at the start of the tournament and get the right combination before you take the field Thats the most critical part of winning the tournament Individual brilliance can win you a few games but to win this championship you need team work intelligence of executing your plans on the field and unity in the teamSo if you see we had one batsman in top five rungetters in the two titles that we won before But this year we dont have even one batsman in the top five It is a little sad but that also shows that different individuals have stepped up at different times have put their hands up and performed We never relied on one individual to win us the game Yesterday was a perfect example the bowling unit came together and everybody contributed In batting the top and middle order failed but Krunal Pandya stood upOn whether he believed Mumbai could win after putting up only 129 on the boardWhen you are playing on a slow pitch it is important to believe that you can defend any target After our poor batting display we spoke about how we played our last game against one of the better batting units in the tournament Kolkata Knight Riders in Qualifier2 and bowled them out for 105 So why cant we do it here While defending such a low score its always important for the fielders to try and create something some magic by taking a brilliant catch or by effecting a brilliant run outWhen we came out to field we spoke about adding 20 runs through our fielding but we were sloppy in the first few overs During the first strategic timeout we just got together and asked everyone to be calm and not overdo anything Things will happen On a slow wicket like this something or the other keeps happening every now and then We always knew and also had the belief that things can change anytime We just wanted make sure that we stay in the game for 20 oversIt doesnt matter if they create a partnership we wanted to stay in the game We have seen it again and again in this format that one good over few dot balls or few mishits can force the opponent to make mistakes and completely change the gameOn Mitchell Johnson coming in and performingWe have some proven matchwinners in our squad and they come in handy when the team require them the most It was unfortunate that Mitchell McClenaghan was injured but we always knew we had a great back up in Mitchell Johnson who again is a proven customer He has done it for Australia and MI many times before so we knew that we could happily rely on him The last over was very critical with Steven Smith and Dan Christian batting and he delivered It is also great to have him in team even when he is not in the playing XI Hes always been talking to the younger bowlers sharing his experience all those things have helped our younger bowlers too You will hear from Jasprit Bumrah sometime in the future how much Johnson has helped himMI captain Rohit Sharma receives the IPL trophy from BCCI acting president CK Khanna last nightOn whether bowling Johnson in the last over was a wise decision given that Smith was playing for pace We wanted to use Bumrah to take wickets Then it was always a gamble between Lasith Malinga or Johnson to bowl that last over because both are quick and we didnt want to give Smith any pace to play with Malinga has played quite a few games this season and he was in rhythm but Johnson is good at taking the ball away from the righthanders making it difficult to hit We wanted to make Smith hit into the wind and Rayudu managed to take a welljudged catchOn getting the balance rightIt is always good to have the fivebowler theory in T20 with the right balance of bat and ball Hardik and Krunal Pandya give us that balance because of the way they bat and bowl Sometimes Hardik hasnt bowled much because the other five bowlers have delivered and sometimes it is Krunal who hasnt bowled much because the other five have deliveredA lot of credit goes to Shane Bond who has been working with all the bowlers closely It is not just about what we did yesterday Everybody has worked really hard throughout the tournament Thats why these guys are also getting rewards for it Good to see when all these things fall in place