Chennai, Apr 14 (IANS): Rohit Sharma praised Suryakumar Yadav for his fearless batting even though the Mumbai Indians skipper considered the pitch at the MA Chidambaram tough for batsmen to play strokes from the word go.

"I think Yadav is carrying that form that he had when he played for India. He is very fearless when he bats. When he plays those shots, it doesn't look like he's taking risks. Those are cricketing shots. We need a guy who bats fearlessly," said Rohit after the match.

Rohit, who scored 43 off 32 balls and shared a 76-run second-wicket partnership with Yadav added that the Chennai pitch is different from the one at Wankhede where the second batch of matches is taking place.

"Definitely, it is not easy on this pitch. A set batsman needs to carry on for as long as possible. The trend in Chennai is when the new batsman comes in, it becomes hard to go from ball one, unlike Wankhede," added Rohit.

The 33-year-old paid compliments to his bowlers for their fightback.

"Anyone who came to bowl at different stages wanted to put their hand up and do something for the team. We can take a lot of confidence from this game. There were lots of positives," he said before singling out leg-spinner Rahul Chahar whose four for 27 included the top four batsmen of the KKR line-up.

"KKR batted brilliantly in the first six overs. But once the powerplay was gone, the way Rahul came and got wickets -- that was crucial. And Krunal at the end was also crucial. I can praise all the bowlers, honestly," he said.