There were two ways from an outsider to look at the Mumbai Indians situation as they went into their four match of the season. One way was to say that they weren’t clicking as a unit. The other way was to say that given how wildly unpredictable the Twenty20 format is, they just needed a final push.

The Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, had no option but to be positive. The start wasn’t ideal but they knew that a turnaround is never far away in T20 cricket.

“The only thing we didn’t do well as a group in the last three games was that sometimes we batted well but didn’t bowl well. Sometimes we bowled well but didn’t bat well. So the idea was to get both the departments going. And we wanted to be consistent in our bowling and batting as well. And we managed to do that today,” said Rohit Sharma after leading Mumbai Indians to their first win.

But with Umesh Yadav’s two-wicket blast to start the innings, Royal Challengers Bangalore seized the early momentum. And momentum is vital in any sport. The pitch seemed to be a little soft and the terribly humid conditions in Mumbai hadn’t helped matters.

But that is where the free-spirited approach of the Caribbean cricket came to Mumbai’s rescue. In Rohit’s own words playing shots in the early overs wasn’t easy but that clearly didn’t concern MI opener Evin Lewis.

Lewis was striking it well. IPL/Sportzpics

The West Indian decided that he was going to go for it – as perhaps only West Indians can. When the mood takes them, no wicket is too difficult to bat on. And as he went about playing his innings, Rohit was given vital time to find his own feet in the middle.

When Rohit was later asked if he gave the opener any advice, his answer revealed how he is maturing as a cricket and as a captain.

“You don’t guide the West Indian players... at all. You have to let them be themselves. If you try and tell them ‘this is how you should defend, this is you should play shots,’ the opposite will happen. Nothing will fall in place. It’s better that we let them do their thing and that is how you get the best out of them.”

And Lewis did just show how well that strategy worked. He was brutal on anything short and his pull shot was a sight to behold. More importantly, his knock of 65 (42 balls, 6 fours and 5 sixes) allowed Rohit Sharma to come into his own.

In the past we have seen how dangerous MI can be when Rohit is in form and if anyone wanted further evidence of that, Rohit’s knock just did that.

As he often does in ODIs, he was slow to get going... feeding to strike to Lewis. But when he did, the ease with which he was dispatching balls to the boundary line and beyond was amazing. His innings of 94 (52 balls, 10 fours, 5 sixes) showed just why Mumbai needed their skipper at his best.

When he is batting well, he is a hard man to stop and his experience at the international level has also allowed him to understand just how to pace his innings. If he does get in, it also allows the big hitters – Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya – to come out all guns blazing.

Of course, there is the constant argument being made for a return to the top of the batting order but Rohit is having none of that.

“I think me batting at 4 gives the balance to the side and gives the new guys the freedom to bat at the top. It is important to finish off games. But I will do whatever the team wants in terms of batting position to get the right balance for the side,” said the MI skipper after the game.

Over the years, Mumbai’s bowling unit is one of the most consistent in the business and adding Mitchell McClenaghan back to the mix had the desired impact. But as good as the pacemen were, the true stars of the innings were the two spinners – Krunal Pandya and Mayank Markande.

Krunal’s three wickets broke the back of the RCB innings and Markande’s superb economy meant that despite Virat Kohli’s 92, the visitors were never in with a chance.

With Mumbai finally off the blocks, the other teams will have to be on guard now. This is a team that knows how to win and it has the firepower to simply blow away opponents. Getting Rohit Sharma back in form is a huge plus – it just means that everyone, just like Lewis, has the license to go wild.