Unhappy Rohit and a new Hardik haircut

In this new Cricbuzz series - Once upon an IPL final - we get some of the younger cricketers to retell tales of an IPL final they were part of. Here we have J Suchith reminiscing his maiden IPL season which ended in a title victory...

Mumbai Indians' turnaround

2015 was my maiden IPL season. I hadn't even played a first-class game till then. And there I was, surrounded by all the greats of the game - Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Anil Kumble, Jonty Rhodes, Shane Bond. You can imagine the excitement.

We couldn't believe that we were in the final given the start that we had (losing five of the first six matches). We could have been out of the tournament at one stage. From the first game that we started winning, the whole talk was about how we were going to play every game like it was our last game. So we were approaching it like that. Ricky advised us not to look at the points table because we were just heading upwards with each game. He wanted us to think where we have to go instead of what had happened earlier. The same talk kept on going till we reached the final.

Before getting into the final, we had won eight of our last nine games. So when we reached the final, we didn't feel like we were in the final, it was like a league game that we needed to win. For me, personally, since I was playing the first time, I didn't know how important and how difficult it is to reach an IPL final. Everything happens so quickly. Since the momentum was on our side and we were winning games, you tend to not look at the parts where the team is not doing right. All that matters at such times is that the team is winning. So we were enjoying as a team.

CSK or RCB?

Since we had beaten CSK in the first qualifier, we reached five days before the final. Since it was humid in Kolkata, except for a few meals and shopping, I didn't step out too often. We were advised rest. However, Hardik Pandya was excited and he went and got a new haircut especially for the final. Everyone joked about it. Ricky went and told him that if he fielded without his cap on during the game, he was not going to entertain it. But Hardik did a celebration after taking a catch, where he removed his cap and showed his new hairstyle to the camera for Ricky to see it.

CSK were going to play RCB in the second qualifier and Rohit Sharma wanted RCB to win the match. We were practising. But Mike Hussey played really well and CSK qualified. Rohit wasn't too happy, he has a different kind of competitiveness when it comes to CSK. Everyone knew how good CSK were when it comes to the knockout games.

It also came from the fact that when we had played CSK at Wankhede in the league phase, when our total of 183 was chased down in 100 balls. That was really hard for us to take, to know that we played our best cricket and they were still able to beat us easily. Along with denting our standings and net run rate, it also dented our confidence badly. That loss triggered everyone. We had a meeting after that. The owners came and spoke us, motivated us. Sachin sir also spoke to the team. He asked everyone to enjoy the sport, enjoy the small battles, when we are bowling to a good batsman or facing a good bowler. That would help get the best out of each individual. From thereon, we lost only two games in the rest of the tournament.

I used to spend most of my time in the team hotel with Shreyas Gopal and Siddhesh Lad, playing PlayStation, snooker or table tennis. We were young and excited about the tournament and even the money. We hadn't seen that kind of money. At times, we would wonder how much we could spend and what all we could do with it. It was fun. I didn't want to talk a lot about the final with them because they didn't get many chances in the XI that year.

The day of the final

We usually had meetings before going to the ground. But that day we were called half an hour earlier. A day before, the team manager had taken the numbers of our family and friends and got them to record messages for us. It was Ricky's idea. It was very emotional. It was really good to see our families wishing us. We could sense the energy in the room. Most of us were in tears, especially the foreigners since they were away from the family for a really long time. Alex Hales and Kieron Pollard, especially, got very emotional. It gives us goosebumps and the kick we needed before going to the ground.

Once we reached Eden Gardens and began warming up, Ricky Ponting came up to the youngsters and asked us to soak in the atmosphere that had built up, try to soak in all the nervousness. So that once the game starts, we concentrate only on the match. That talk helped us a lot.

As a cricketer, your job is to contribute to the team in every way possible. But if the team is winning and you are responsible for it, there's nothing like that, especially in an IPL final. I had a pretty good tournament till then and CSK was a very strong side. I obviously wanted to do well against them, I also had a personal milestone. But I didn't get a chance to bat or bowl.

When our innings started, we lost a wicket in the first over. Ricky had asked me to pad up. Had we lost another wicket, I was supposed to go in as a pinch-hitter. But we finished the powerplay over losing only one wicket. Rohit and Simmons put on a good partnership for the second wicket. Pollard and Rayudu finished well and we ended up with 201. We had a lot of confidence in our side after that. We bowled really well in the powerplay, which gave us a good chance.

I was hoping that I would get to bowl a couple of overs, sharing the four-over quota with Hardik. But once Hardik came on to bowl the fourth over, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get to bowl. I would've liked to bowl a couple of overs, but when I didn't get a chance, I felt slightly bad. But that happens, can't complain.

I took two catches though - of Hussey and Ashwin. The first catch I took (of Hussey) I wasn't sure about it. I instinctively told the umpire that I didn't know whether I had taken the catch. In excitement, I didn't want to claim that I had taken a catch.

It was a one-sided contest in the end. At the 14th or 15th over mark, once Malinga got Dhoni, we were pretty sure that we had won. From that point, we were already celebrating. We knew that we were not going to relax till we reach the 20-over mark. Rohit also told us that nobody is going to relax, everyone is going to keep focus. But there was prolonged happiness.

Mumbai won the IPL 2015 final by 41 runs and it was all dancing after that

Inside the dressing room, we got into a huddle, and everyone including the management and the owners had to get in the middle and do a dance step. We poured all the Pepsi inside the IPL cup and everyone came and had a sip of it. We spent an hour there before taking the bus to the hotel. There was a party in the team hotel. We ended up celebrating till 7-8 in the morning before heading home.

As told to Aayush Puthran

Also read:The story of a phone call with SRK after KKR's first title win