Cricket fraternity hails Mumbai Indians for lifting record IPL title

New Delhi, May 22

The cricket fraternity has come in unison to praise the Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians, who pulled off a nerve-wracking one-run win over Rising Pune Supergiants to lift this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) title in a low-scoring final on Sunday.

Taking to his official Twitter account, Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Yuvraj Singh heaped praise on Mumbai Indians bowlers for holding their nerves till the very end. 

“What an amazing game of cricket this is what makes @ipl such an amazing tournament bad luck Pune but @mipaltan bowlers kept their nerves,” Yuvraj tweeted.

Labelling the final match as ‘super exciting’, former Indian skipper Kapil Dev congratulated Mumbai Indians for notching up the coveted trophy for the record third time.  “This is how you want a final match to be like. Super exciting. Congrats @mipaltan on another ipl title. #IPLfinal #RPSvMI,” Dev wrote on Twitter.

Praising the Mumbai Indians’ bowling attack, former Indian cricketer and renowned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar tweeted, “I will remember this IPL, where bowlers outwitted the batsmen. 23 MoM awards to bowlers. Most in any IPL.”

Left-handed Indian batsman and Gujarat Lions skipper Suresh Raina described the finals as ‘best’ in the IPL history before hailing Rohit for his brilliant captaincy under pressure.

“Wat a match best final in IPL so far great captaincy under pressure @ImRo45 so so so close #IPLfinal #RPSvsMI #IPL2017 #MUMBAIINDIANS #BCCI,” Raina said on Twitter.

“What a brilliant #IPLfinal Congratulations @mipaltan on a great victory????Congrats to @RPSupergiants as well for an outstanding season??,” said Indian batting legend VVS Laxman.

Mumbai Indians off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also congratulated his team for making a fantastic finish to 10 years of the IPL.

Congratulating Mumbai Indians for a brilliant match, former Sri Lanka opener Sanath Jayasuriya said, “What a match! Congratz@mipaltan Once a Mumbai Indian Always Mumbai Indian.”

Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke, who was in charge of Mumbai Indians in 2015-16, admitted that he is left short of words to describe his happiness.

“What a win! I am speechless. @mipaltan congratulations. I gave you no chance and I was so WRONG. MJ with a brilliant last over,” Ponting said.

Posting a picture of him with trophy, Mumbai Indians pacer Jasprit Bumrah wrote, “It was a great privilege to play with all these legends and learning so much. Great to win the IPL with them.” 

Australian opener and Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner said the Mumbai Indians bowlers had proved their critics wrong by clinching the trophy. “That’s 20/20 cricket for you. Two halves of a game. Superb bowling from @mipaltan was happy to be proven wrong. Amazing match, cricket wins,” Warner said.

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Shikhar Dhawan, Royal Challengers Bangalore and West Indies swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle, Delhi Daredevils Rishab Pant, renowned commentator Harsha Bhogle, England batsman Jos Buttler were among others to congratulate Mumbai Indians. 

Rohit Sharma’s men defended their total of 129 for eight in a match that went right down to the last ball in a packed Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

It was some exceptional death bowling by Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Johnson and Jasprit Bumrah which did the trick for Rohit in a match where the two-time champions were completely off-colour in the first half of the game.

This is the first time since 2008 that a team finishing first in the points table has lifted the trophy.

Mumbai Indians became the first team to win the IPL Trophy for the third time in the last 10 seasons, having won the title in 2013 and 2015. ANI