Five times champions Mumbai Indians (MI) players celebrated in style after qualifying for the IPL 2023 playoffs. In a must-win game at the Wankhede, they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets. However, Mumbai's playoff spot was assured only after the defending champions and table-toppers Gujarat Titans defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets. That came courtesy of Shubman Gill's century, with Virat Kohli's hundred propelling RCB to 197-5.
Soon after Gill hit the game-winning six to help the defending champions win the contest, MI players, who were glued to their television screens, began to celebrate. Middle-order batter Vishnu Vinod posted an Instagram story clip of a behind-the-scenes film, which was afterwards shared by the team's handle and Twitter users.
In terms of the standings, Mumbai finished fourth with 16 points in 14 games. Meanwhile, the Titans ended first in the table with 20 points after winning ten of 14 games. With 17 points each, Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants are the the other two teams to qualify. The Super Kings came in second place due to a slightly higher net run rate.
Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma expected a favour from RCB:
After the eight-wicket victory against the SunRisers, Rohit Sharma revealed that they came with a mindset of winning instead of looking at the other results. However, the opener said that he expects RCB to return the favour of the last year.
"We came with the mindset of winning the game and not worrying about what happens elsewhere. What you can control, you can control and hope for the best. If we don't go through, we have ourselves to blame for it. If we go through, I'll give all the credit to the boys. That's the last thing you want - to be dependent on the other results. Last year we did a big favour to RCB, I hope the result comes what we are looking for," he said in the post-match presentation.
Mumbai Indians will face the Super Giants in the Eliminator on Wednesday.
