The Mumbai Indians have reached the Feroz Shah Kotla to take on the Delhi Daredevils after beating the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mumbai. With two wins from five matches, the visitors, who have played the most matches in the league phase of IPL 2016 so far will be keen to add to the wins’ column when they take the field on Saturday, April 23. The star-studded Rohit Sharma-led line-up will be facing-off against the Zaheer Khan-led side in an afternoon game in Delhi. Both teams have beaten the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the lead up to the encounter and will be pressing for yet another win as the tournament approaches the mid-way stage.

MI like most other teams in the tournament have posted both their wins while chasing a target. Speaking about the trend, Kieron Pollard who had played a 19-ball 39-run knock in their last win said, “I can’t really say. I guess we are not making enough runs batting first. Having said that there is pressure chasing and if teams are taking the pressure it goes to show the confidence each and every team has – doesn’t matter their position at the start, they back themselves to get it. I guess with the dew around as well, it is something plays a role as well in captains wanting to bat second. If that’s a trend we will try to continue that, but there are situations when you have to bat first. If you bat well batting first and come out and bowl properly, there is no reason you can’t win. It has just happened like that at this point in time. “It’s difficult (but) at the end of the day as a team you go out there and try to put to practice what you have done. That’s what we have done as a team. Once you know you have given a hundred per cent, executed well, and it didn’t come off, then you say okay the team played better than you. If you have faults, you try to address those faults. At the moment, again, it’s just a matter of executing properly. You never know, in the second half of the tournament, the teams batting first might win. What are you going to ask then?” Discussing the chases, he said, “For me personally chasing is a lot difficult. Yes, you know what you have to chase, but you still have to go out there and get it. You lose a couple of wickets, you are on the back foot, you might have to change your game. At the end of the day it is a matter of doing what you need to do and doing it well. If you chase, chase well; if you are batting first, bat properly.” Asked about the role of the openers who have been setting up the chases successfully, he stated, “The role of the openers is to assess the wicket and assess the conditions and pass the information back into the dugout for the guys to come. With that information we decide on what is a good total on a given wicket. Sometimes it might be above par. Before the game we know what a par total at a particular ground is. So, whatever position you are at that point of time, you set goals and you try to adjust your batting line-up to get at least par and a bit more. So that’s the way we go about it.” Discussing the opposition, the hard-hitting MI batsman credited the mentor Rahul Dravid and captain Zaheer Khan for the team’s success. “When you look at it, it is a trend not only with DD, if we go back and see the person behind the scene, he was with Rajasthan Royals before and they had a young team and they used to do well. Rahul Dravid has done a magnificent job with the youngsters throughout India and they have all gravitated towards him. Even in this DD line-up, you will see that the younger guys coming out and performing. They went to Bengaluru and beat Royal Challengers Bangalore there. This goes to show the sort of confidence that these guys have and the captain (Zaheer Khan) has the confidence in them. As a youngster if you have those two guys at the helm giving you that confidence there is no better thing for you; just go out and perform,” Pollard concluded.