Chennai, Apr 18 (IANS): Despite winning Saturday night's game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rohit Sharma called on his Mumbai Indians (MI) batsmen to bat better in the middle-overs.

The MI skipper had provided a good start to his team along with Quinton de Kock but after the duo's dismissal, the remaining batsmen failed to get going. Only Kieron Pollard's late hitting took the team to 150/5 in 20 overs.

"I think we can bat better in the middle overs. All these guys have played a lot of cricket on pitches like these. So, there are areas to work on," said Sharma after the match.

"At the same time, don't want to be too harsh on the guys. The slowness of the deck doesn't allow batsmen to come and slog straightaway. One set batter carrying through is needed, which is what's not happening for all of the teams that have played here," added Sharma.

"Polly (Pollard) has done it for so many years for us at the back end. We have confidence in him. It's all about him getting some time in the middle."

Sharma praised his bowling unit that performed well.

"It was a great effort from the bowling unit. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. On that pitch, when you're bowling well, it's not easy," added Sharma.