An insatiable hunger to succeed, the willingness to put in the extra yards and extensive work on the nitty gritties culminated in an unprecedented fifth IPL title for Mumbai Indians, the players, who are responsible for Delhi Capitals' clinical demolition said on Tuesday.
Opener Quinton de Kock said after the final, "Mumbai have a great set up, so we've been able to move with the gym work and training and stuff. We're reaping the rewards today for it. It's a great feeling. I think this year because there were so many questions around Mumbai in general, whether we can win back to back, we put in the extra effort. You can see it's paid off. We worked extra hard on the nitty gritties."
If last year's one-run win over Chennai Super Kings was an absolute cliffhanger, Rohit's fluent 68 made it an anti-climax with Mumbai Indians chasing the target of 157 in 18.4 overs.
"It's a great feeling. I've been here 11 years, the fifth trophy. No one sees the planning and training, it's pressure playing for a franchise like this," MI veteran Kieron Pollard.
The West Indian swashbuckler added: "The number of trophies, the amount of work, the number of players who go on to play for their countries, I think we'll have to say so (that this is the best T20 franchise)."
The elder of the Pandya brothers, Krunal said: "It's the hunger. The way we went about the games, there was always 100 per cent. A lot of credit goes to how we prepared. One month before we came, everyone knew their roles. Everyone was in good shape, just executing what they were doing in the nets."
Another MI star, Suryakumar Yadav attributed the success to preparation and following the process. "Preparations, processes and routine are important. the team just said one thing - we'll take care of this. You go and express yourself," Surykumar concluded.
