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Bhajji turned the final Mumbai's way, says Dravid
It was Rajasthan Royals skipper Rahul Dravid's last hurrah in competitive cricket and he would have loved a different outcome in the final of the Champions League T20.
But on Sunday, after the dust had settled down on the tournament, he was in awe of Mumbai Indians off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, whose three-wicket burst in the 17th over turned the final on its head and his side lost the plot after that.
"Mumbai were the better side. But it was a terrific effort from our team. It was a close game till the end and otherwise a great final," said Dravid, after Rajasthan Royals were beaten by 33 runs.
'An emotional moment'
"But Harbhajan Singh's three wickets in an over (17th) turned the match on its head and we lost the game there," added Dravid, who has already announced that the match would be his last T20 game.
He thanked the players of both teams and the Feroze Shah Kotla crowd for giving him a warm farewell after he was out for one.
"It was an emotional moment and I thank the players of both teams and the crowd for the warm farewell given to me," he said.
Fitting farewell for Sachin Tendulkar
The winning captain, Rohit Sharma, said it was a befitting farewell for Sachin Tendulkar, who will also not play in the T20 format again.
"It was a nerve-biting game. I would like to thank Sachin and Dravid for what they've done for Indian cricket. We are happy for Tendulkar... that we won the title and he will not be playing T20 again," he said.
'Winning this was like the icing on the cake after becoming the IPL champions'
"We thought the dew would come in. Maxy (Maxwell) finished off really well. We held our nerve in the end. Winning this was like the icing on the cake after becoming the IPL champions."
Man-of-the-match Harbhajan said his figures of 4-32 were one of his best in recent times.
"Great feeling winning two cups in one year. It was a little easier to score with the new ball. The ball was getting a bit wet. That over I took three wickets... was probably the best I've bowled the last three months. I didn't practice much before this series; I was traveling to the US," he said.
Mumbai's Dwayne Smith was adjudged Man-of-the-Series while RR's Ajinkya Rahane won the Golden Bat for his 288 runs.
The Golden Wicket went to the 41-year-old Royals' leg-spinner Pravin Tambe for his 12 wickets.