When you are down and need a morale booster, a push of motivation, can you think of a better person to come to your help than Sachin Tendulkar? The ultimate epitome of relentless fight and insatiable desire to improve can breathe life into the most moribund of hearts.Mumbai Indians’ feat of coming from behind to win Pepsi IPL 2015 after four straight losses to begin the tournament will go down as one of the most amazing stories in the history of IPL. And after the feat was achieved, iplt20.

com spoke to the Icon of Mumbai Indians, Sachin Tendulkar about the journey.Could you talk us through this amazing turnaround MI have had this season?Fantastic! We had a difficult start, really tough one. But those are the testing moments.

That’s when the team stuck together and we worked hard. This victory is not a coincidence; it is the reflection of all the hard work that we have put in. All of us truly believed that we could change things around.

It is not how you start but how you finish that matters.A word on Lendl Simmons, MI’s silent performer at the top of the order, who seems to have solved the opening conundrum that has been there since you left?Beautiful! I thought he batted beautifully throughout the tournament. He has been very consistent.

I also felt that the other players played really well around him. He was the anchor of our team and because of him all the other players had the freedom to go and express themselves.Have you seen Rohit Sharma grow as a leader?I have.

If you compare him today with what he was when he started out as MI’s captain, he is a far better captain today. He is much more confident now. He has gone through a lot of ups and downs as MI’s captain and has faced a lot of challenges.

These challenges only make you a better cricketer and a tougher person.Can you point out any specific aspect where he has improved as a captain?I think his execution has been particularly good this season. Whatever we planned in the meetings and dressing room, he has been able to execute them very well.

You can tell a lot about the captain from the feedback the bowlers give you. The bowlers bowl in the areas and execute the plans that the captain asks them to. We can plan many things behind closed doors but it is up to the captain, the bowlers and the fielders to bring it all together.

Rohit has done that well.A word on Ricky Ponting, the coach?When we played against him, he always came across as a serious, fearless competitor who never wanted to give up. The same applied here.

At no stage did he feel that we are out of the tournament. We need positive people with good experience around, and Ricky doesn’t lack in any of those departments.What stood out for you in this IPL?What stood out for me was the belief and faith we had in our ability.

At no stage any player was ready to put his head down thinking this is a difficult season and there is no future for us. We always saw the light at the end of the tunnel.Talk about some of the finds of this IPL at MI.

Some of the guys that played for MI for the first time this season did extremely well for us. The likes of J Suchith and Hardik Pandya were very impressive. Also, Vinay Kumar – I know he is an experienced campaigner, but this was his first year for MI.

I thought he didn’t start out very convincingly but he finished brilliantly. He peaked at the right time..

Source: http://www.iplt20.com/news/2015/features/6960/a-bond-shane-wants-to-hold-on-to