Mumbai, May 5 (IANS) Mumbai Indians batter Ryan Rickelton has heaped praise on his opening partner Rohit Sharma, commending his game knowledge after the duo forged a match-winning 143-run partnership against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the iconic Wankhede Stadium.

Rohit, who had missed a few games due to a hamstring injury, made a strong comeback against LSG as he played a brilliant knock of 84 runs. His innings included six fours and seven sixes. Rickelton, who was standing at the other end, was impressed with the way the former captain returned to the game.

“He’s obviously had a bit of time off, so, you know, as a player, you know if you have time off to find your groove as quickly as he did. It’s obviously something very impressive. He knows this game incredibly well, and seeing him roll back the years with a lot of those shots over extra cover and his pickups is really nice to stand at the other end,” Rickelton said in a video released by IPL on X.

The South African wicketkeeper also commented on their partnership, saying that he loves batting with Rohit and that they complement each other well.

“I think we complement each other quite nicely; we dovetail quite well. Yeah, I always enjoy batting with him, and hopefully we can have many more fruitful returns. You know, he’s chasing a big score, you kind of have to get going, but I think the beauty of it is that you can work your game around,” he said.

“Sometimes I go aerial; he goes on the ground through his, you know, his natural flair through extra cover and the ability to hit the offside. It’s classy, watching him bat. I really enjoy, you know, spending time out there in the middle. The first six at the Wankhede, when the wicket has been generally quite good this year, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. So yeah, really happy with our returns, and hopefully, like I said, we can keep that momentum going,” he added.

Speaking of the match, Nicholas Pooran blazed to a 16-ball half-century (63 runs off 21 balls) and Mitchell Marsh blasted 44 off 25 as LSG survived a middle-order collapse to post a challenging 228/5 in 20 overs.

In reply, the Mumbai Indians capitalised on half-centuries by Rohit and Rickelton and chased the target in 18.4 overs with eight balls to spare.

–IANS

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