The Mumbai Indians continued their climb back up the Indian Premier League season table after a 14-run win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Hyderabad Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. After another traditional slow start to the season which saw Rohit Sharma and Co lose their first two matches, MI has now won three on the trot and climbed to sixth place in the 10-team table.

SRH skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bowl. But MI came up with a quick start as Sharma played a quickfire 28 of 18 with six boundaries and Ishan Kishan peppered the ground with three boundaries and two sixes in his 31-ball 38-run knock. In at No 3, Cameron Green though was the pick of the batters – and the eventual player of the match awardee – for his 40-ball 64. He was well supported by Tilak Varma’s 37 off 17.

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“I’m enjoying, I’m liking what I’m doing. I want to go further, I want to take that next step further,” said Sharma about his own batting before explaining the mindset from the rest of his team.

“It’s a different role. We’ve been talking about it in the changing room about setting the tempo, setting that intent right from over No 1. We’re glad that we’ve been able to get some scores in powerplay. I do understand that one of us needs to bat deep towards the end as well, but as long as one of us is getting the job done for the team, setting the scores in the powerplay, we’re quite happy with that. We have a long batting line-up and that is something we’re banking on. We want these guys to come out and play freely as well.”

He was particularly impressed by the performances of Varma. The 20-year-old from Hyderabad has been MI’s best batter so far this season, featuring at No 7 in the season’s leaderboard for most run scored with 214 runs to his name from five innings.

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“Quite excited (about watching them play). We watched Tilak last season. He showed what he can do with the bat. He’s not looked away from it this year. What I like about him is his approach. He’s not afraid, he’s not playing the bowler, he’s playing the ball. Which is quite important for someone his age. Coming out and playing the way he is, he’s got a long way to go. But we will see him play for some different teams,” Sharma added.

MI had set a target of 193, and their bowlers were quick to pick up wickets from the SRH run-chase, reducing the hosts to 72/4 by the 10th over. SRH was eventually bowled out for 178 to give MI the win. And this comes from a bowling-unit that is relatively inexperienced when it comes to competing in a tournament like the IPL.

“It’s quite important for us to settle them in. We’ve got a couple of guys who haven’t played IPL before, so it’s important to back them when the chips are down, when the pressure is on. You need to show that trust in them, and when the time comes, they will deliver for you,” Sharma said.

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“That’s exactly what’s been happening in the last few games. They’ve been coming into their own, understanding what the team is expecting, and coming out and doing their job.”

Jason Behrendorff, Riley Meredith and Piyush Chawla picked up two wickets each while Green picked up one wicket in addition to his batting exploits. However, a great deal of scrutiny was on Arjun Tendulkar, the son of cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. Playing in only his second IPL match, the 23-year-old was sent in to bowl the last over of the match with SRH down by 9, and picked up the wicket of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar – his first IPL wicket.

“It’s quite exciting. Arjun has been a part of this team for the last three years. I’ve seen him grow. He understands what he wants to do and he’s quite confident with what he wants to do. We saw it in the lead-up to the IPL. He was bowling fast, nailing those yorkers. And he’s quite clear in his plan as well. He’s trying to swing the new ball and in the death (overs) trying to bowl the yorkers,” Sharma added.

The Mumbai-franchise will return home to the Wankhede Stadium for their next match against the Punjab Kings on April 22.