As the Delhi Daredevils look to strengthen their position in the VIVO IPL 2016 points table they will take on the Gujarat Lions on Wednesday, April 27. The team have so far defeated heavyweights like Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians. In their fifth game, they will be facing-off against yet another strong opposition. Asked about the team’s preparation for the match against Gujarat Lions, who have been performing consistently in the league phase of the IPL, the Delhi Daredevils batsman Sanju Samson said, “Every team is a very tough team to play in the tournament. I think Gujarat have been doing well and we have to respect them. Nothing changes in the preparation. Planning wise, we do talk about our opponents and set clear plans for them. We are ready for the game,” while speaking to media ahead of training in Delhi. While discussing the preparations further with conditions in mind, the top-order batsman said, “Wickets in India are getting slower. We have to prepare ourselves depending on the conditions and the opponents. In Delhi, the last game was a slow wicket. We have to prepare ourselves to face the challenge and we are doing well in it.” In their last match at the Feroz Shah Kotla, the Daredevils defended 164 runs against the Mumbai Indians to post their third successive win in a tournament where defending totals seemed to be challenge so far. Discussing the team’s preparations for setting a target as well chasing it, the batsman said, “Many teams are successful chasing. We know (about) it and talked about it in the meeting. We can never control the toss, so we have to (be prepared to) bat first or bowl first. We have to be mentally ready for anything. We have a good bowling attack in our set up.” Sanju, himself had played a match-winning knock to help set up the win for DD against the Mumbai Indians. Speaking about his own role and preparation the youngster said, “I have been playing IPL for the last three years and I feel I am getting better as a cricketer each and every year. Mostly I take my learning and experience from Rahul (Dravid) sir and we have a good team management, experienced and knowledgeable team management. So it’s all about learning and what your team needs from you. If they send me down the order, I have to finish the game. When they send me up the order, then I have to build the innings and set a good stage for my team.” Having done the hard yards under the sweltering heat at Kotla, the Zaheer Khan-led team are set to face off against the Lions. Looking forward to the match against the Lions, Sanju said, “They are doing well. But we cannot judge who is going to do well the next day...who is going to bat well (or) who is going to bowl well. We have plans for everyone. I hope it goes well tomorrow.”