BCCI Logo
BCCI Logo

News

Eager to win against CSK: Sharma

Fri 9 May 2014, 12:00 am

Eager to win against CSK: Sharma
Summary

Mumbai Indians’ captain looks to continue Wankhede winning streak

With two consecutive home wins, the Mumbai Indians have got their Pepsi IPL 2014 campaign back on track. With the points table constantly changing, almost every team has an equal chance to make it to the business end of the tournament. Facing the Mumbai Indians next is a strong Chennai Super Kings side that is equally eager to notch up yet another win. For Rohit Sharma and co., the plan against the Men in Yellow is simple. “We have to continue to play the way we are playing; and we know how to play on our home ground,” Sharma said. “We are already on a winning streak at home and we would look to take the same level of confidence into the next match. In the two games we have played at Wankhede Stadium, we have executed our plans well. We will have our own set of plans for the Chennai Super Kings, and we will see how it goes,” Sharma added. “We want to take this as another game in the competition. We do not want to think too much about the opposition. We have played CSK a lot of times in the past and we realise that it is a very important game for us. They have some great match-winners in their side, and it will be a good contest when we play them tomorrow. The last time CSK was here, we beat them comprehensively, and we will try and do that again.” The Dubai leg of the tournament saw the Mumbai Indians lose all their matches there. But their fortunes have changed completely since landing on Indian soil. For the MI captain, it was a pleasing sight that the team was finally doing well as a unit. “As a captain, you want your batsmen and bowlers to do well as a unit. We bowled well in Dubai, but the batting was not really clicking. In India, I am glad both departments have done well. In the last game, the bowlers did a brilliant job to defend 187 against the strong batting line-up of RCB. We got wickets at regular intervals and it was good to see the bowlers rising up to the occasion.” Sharma also reserved some special praise for one his senior-most bowlers – Harbhajan Singh. With six wickets and an economy-rate of under seven, Sharma believes Bhajji is the go-to bowler for his side when it comes to picking up wickets at crucial junctures.“I am happy with Harbhajan Singh’s performance. He is someone who we look up to to get wickets for us at crucial junctures of the game. What is pleasing to see in his bowling is that he is giving the ball a lot of flight and looking for wickets, instead of being defensive. We expect a lot from him and we are glad he is delivering for us. I hope he continues the good performance in the games to come.” CSK have a quality bowling attack, featuring the likes of Ben Hilfenhaus, Mohit Sharma and the spin duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Mohit Sharma in particular has been impressive with 14 wickets to his name, and is the leading wicket-taker for his side this season. When asked if his team had any special plans to counter the CSK pacer, the MI captain said, “Mohit Sharma is bowling well for the Chennai Super Kings, but they have other bowlers as well who are doing well for them. We want to concentrate on their bowling attack as a unit, instead of focussing on individuals. We will have a look at their strengths and weaknesses, and execute our plans on the field accordingly.”