‘We’ve got a base now; now we try taking steps after it’ – Ryan Rickelton after MI’s 1st win IPL 2025

At the Wankhede Stadium on Monday night, the Mumbai Indians (MI) defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by eight wickets, securing their first IPL 2025 victory. Ryan Rickelton, a South African batsman who hit an undefeated 62 off 41 balls, made the triumph more memorable. Rickelton’s innings gave him a big boost for the upcoming games since he had scored little in his first two appearances.

One of South Africa’s emerging talents, the Southpaw, had a difficult IPL debut. He was trying to maximise the opportunity of his debut against KKR, scoring just 13 and 6 in his first two innings.

“The pressure factor is high on the outside but low on the inside. I’ll accept that even though it wasn’t as fluid as I would have preferred. Now that we have a base, we attempt to move forward. It was going to swing around a bit, I knew that. For a while, I wasn’t expecting it to accomplish that much. It was a little sticky for the entire 40 overs [29.1 is all it took]. Both our hitters and our bowlers made excellent adjustments.

The previous two games were challenging, with some difficult wickets, but it was a difficult battle to come out here in Mumbai and have KKR opening bowler Spencer [Johnson] turn me inside out. However, it was quite satisfying to receive a score once I passed that. More relief than anything else. stated at the press conference following the game, “It’s great for the team to get two points on the board.”

All I wanted to do was acquire a score and calm myself: Ryan Rickelton

The South African talked about opening with Rohit Sharma and doing anything he could to help the squad. Rickelton clarified that he had time to prepare before playing his shots.

“There will undoubtedly be pressure from both the inside and the outside as Rohit Sharma opens the batting for the Mumbai Indians. I therefore wanted to help the squad and did so for myself. To be honest, I was just trying not to chop it on. I felt a little anxious. All I wanted was to achieve a score and calm myself.

I knew I could spend a little more time and a few more balls to try to get through because the [target] was comparatively low. Fantastic, I removed one or two limits, and the scoreboard simply started to move. I was aware that I could at least influence the game in some way if I could face 18 to 20 balls. Fortunately, I was able to get us through,” he continued.

Ashwani Kumar, an IPL rookie, had an outstanding game as well, taking 4 for 24 and winning Player of the Match. As they get ready to play the Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium on April 4, the Mumbai Indians will be hoping to gain momentum after securing their maiden victory.