Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma referred to draining conditions in Abu Dhabi for him getting tired by the end of his match-winning knock against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Wednesday (September 23).

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Opening the batting, Rohit produced a brilliant innings of 54-ball 80 to lead the foundation for Mumbai’s thumping 49-run victory. His knock was laced with 3 fours, 6 sixes and he batted till almost 18th over.

"It is not easy to play long innings here. It takes a lot out of you to play in these conditions. Maybe I was a bit tired in the end and it was a lesson for us that one set batsmen needs to bat deep till the end," Rohit said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

"We've seen it in the past and that's what I tried to do."

Despite the heat and humidity, it was important for Rohit to bat as long as possible after a lengthy COVID-19 hiatus.

"I haven't played a lot of cricket in the last six months time and was looking to spend some time in the middle; it didn't come out well in the first innings but glad to have done it tonight."

During his stay in the middle, Sharma accumulated most of his boundaries through pull shots.

"I back myself to play the pull shots and have practised quite a bit. Pretty happy with the performance of my squad. All my shots were good (laughs), can't pick one," he said.

The pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah (2/32), James Pattinson (2/24), Trent Boult (2/30) (2/26) bowled brilliantly and claimed two wickets each as MI restricted KKR to 146/9 after posting 195/5 on the board.

Commenting on his bowling attack, Rohit said it was made bearing in mind the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

"We never knew that the IPL would happen in the UAE so we wanted a pace attack that was strong for the Wankhede. But the ball was seaming around for the first six overs over here as well.

"We haven't played much with Trent Boult and (James) Pattinson, but it was good that we were on the same page."