When you fail at something that you take pride in, it hits you hard where it hurts the most. Something similar happened to Mumbai Indians when they plummeted to 92 all-out against SRH in Vizag three days ago. And so, coming to Bengaluru for their crucial away game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, the MI lads were determined to set the record straight. It was a good opportunity for the batsmen to get their confidence back on the batting paradise at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. However, what they encountered was far away from the typical Bengaluru featherbed. The MI bowlers started things off well by restricting RCB to 151 for 4. In reply MI were 79 for 3, needing 73 in the last seven overs. Their rock at the top of the order – Rohit Sharma – was back in the hut. It was time for someone to stand up and take on the mantle of anchoring the ship before it wobbled. Ambati Rayudu put his hand up. In the context of the game, his 44 off 47 balls was as valuable an innings as they come. Instead of going for glory, Rayudu held one end up and let the batsmen around him take the limelight with big shots. He returned to the pavilion with five overs to go. But his sedate knock had set the base for Kieron Pollard (35* off 19) and Jos Buttler (29* off 11) to wipe off the remaining runs with eight balls to spare. After MI’s six-wicket win over RCB, Rayudu spoke to iplt20.com about his knock, MI’s batting roles and their road ahead in VIVO IPL 2016. It got a bit tricky in the middle but you anchored the innings well. This must be a satisfying knock. This wicket was not easy. It was not your typical Bangalore wicket. It was very dry. We noticed that yesterday as well. It was a surprise. But we played well in the given conditions. We recognised that fact and batted accordingly. The mistakes we made in the last game (against SRH in Vizag) were still fresh in our minds and we did not want to repeat them. We just wanted to take the game till the end. Then it was all a matter of two hits. On this ground 10 runs per over in the last couple of overs is comfortable. Unfortunately I could not do it but we managed to get over the line. You mentioned how the batting failed in the last match. What went wrong and how did you bounce back as a team? To be very honest, we have been struggling a bit with our opening partnership. If we get that right, the other batsmen can play with a lot of freedom. What happened in the last game was we lost both our openers and then we lost a few more quick wickets. So, today it was my job was to ensure that we didn’t lose any more wickets, steady the innings and take it from there. Rohit has played that role well in the past few games, of anchoring the innings. Today when he got out, did you see it as an opportunity to do the same? For the team to do well, everyone has to play the role assigned to them and make some sacrifices if needed. Today when Rohit got out, I thought it was my job to occupy one end and let the other batsmen take a few chances. We were pretty relaxed right through and never quite panicked. RCB were 100 for 4 in the 16th over and went on to score 150. So, we knew we were on track. Kieron Pollard’s unbeaten cameo (35 off 19) really ensured that, didn’t it? Yes, he has been playing that role of a finisher for years now. He and I used to have a lot of partnerships together in the past. My role is a bit different in the team this time. He reminded me of that during the strategic timeout and said, ‘We have an opportunity to do it again, so let’s go for it’. I told him, ‘Yes, it has been a long time since we batted together’. Unfortunately I got out not long after that and he was laughing at me thinking of what we had just discussed. A little doff of the hat to the bowlers for restricting the mighty RCB batting line-up to 151? Yes, they did a tremendous job. The conditions played a little part as well. But we were a little surprised that we got such a wicket in Bangalore given RCB’s batting line-up. It was a bit dampening to have such a pitch for a game between two teams with such good batting. We were expecting scores like 220 for this match. But I’m happy that we finished on the right side. As a team MI have been slow starters in the IPL but you guys know when to pick up the momentum. We saw that last year as well. This is that time, isn’t it?

Yes, this is the crunch time in the tournament. We really have only ourselves to blame because we get ourselves in such crunch situations. It is up to us now to get out of this situation as soon as we can and qualify with a bit of ease this time rather than being in a spot where we have to chase down 190 in 13 overs to make the playoffs.