Mumbai: Aditya Tare played an oustanding innings (59 runs) in his first match of IPL 6 which helped Mumbai Indians beat Rajasthan Royals by 14 runs at Wankhade Stadium here on Wednesday. Happy with his performance, Tare said it was frustrating to sit on the bench for so long but then he thought himself to be fortunate to be trainig with greats like Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting.

“It was obviously frustrating to sit on the bench and watch others play. I played my last game in 2010. But then I think I am fortunate enough to be training with great players like Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting. They are legends and I am fortunate to be with themm,” said Tare adding that he was a bit nervous before the start of the match but his team-mates were quite encouraging.

“I wanted to improve my game and Ranji Trophy season helped my game. I was a bit nervous at the start but I am grateful to my teammates. Rohit (Sharma) and John Wright had a lot of good things to say. My game has improved since 2010. I also want to thank Kiran More for my wicket-keeping skills,” said Tare, who was given the man-of-the-match award.

Meanwhile Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma said that everything went pretty well for them. “I think we were 10 short with the bat, but we bowled well. We know the conditions well at Mumbai. There were certain plans that we decided on and executed them well,” said Rohit in all praise for Tare.

“Full credit to Tare for the way he was working throughout the season. All the coaches have been working with him hard. Looking forward to the playoffs but we have one more league game first,” said Sharma.

Rahul Dravid, skipper of Rajasthan Royals said, “I thought we fought hard -- both, with the ball and the bat. It was a great effort by Binny and Hodge. We would have taken the target but credit to Mumbai for the way they bowled in the last four overs. We fight quite hard and while we have had tough games, we have been competitive.”

By ISN