Mumbai Indians did not have the best of starts to their VIVO IPL 2016 campaign - this after they had been defeated at the Wankhede Stadium by the Rising Pune Supergiants. The batsmen didn’t get going which left very little for the bowlers to defend and the same old problem of not getting a good start to the tournament surfaced for the blue brigade. When asked how the team was coping up with the loss, Captain Rohit Sharma said the team had already put the loss behind and had all their focus for their next game against Kolkata Knight Riders. “We don’t want to panic as a team. It is still early days. We want to work hard and concentrate on what lies ahead of us,” Rohit said. “This is a professional unit and you don’t need to motivate the team. Everyone knows what is expected and the kind of performance we had in the first game is not something that we would want. We have gone back to the drawing board and decided what we can’t afford as a team. We have rectified our mistakes. Hopefully we will have a better game here. We will be playing KKR at their home ground and they know the conditions better. They play well as a team here in this ground. We have to combat all the challenges and we are up for it.” When asked the reasons behind being perennial slow starters in the competition, Rohit said, “We are a team that knows what we have to do as a team to win the trophy and win games. The first few games are always challenging because as a group you are all trying to get together and play as a team which is difficult for every team - not just Mumbai Indians. That is a challenge for us as well. The first few weeks will be a big challenge and it has to do with the combination as well. “We play according to the conditions and get the right balance of the squad. Sometimes it will work and sometimes it may not. It is important that you identify that as early as possible in the tournament and make sure you have a settled squad going ahead. It is always important to give the guys a few games to prove themselves. We want to win as many games as possible in the first half of the tournament and see what happens afterwards.” Talking about team selections and combinations, Rohit also clarified that Lasith Malinga was ruled out for a few weeks and was satisfied by the way Jasprit Bumrah had risen to fill his shoes. But a question the captain has been asked time and again is his batting position in the side. Rohit was more than willing to do what deemed fit for the side. “I have been batting for three years as an opener and would like to continue that for the remainder of the series. Everything depends on the balance. If I feel that me batting at the top is not right for the team, I will come down as a middle-order batsman. If it helps the team, I am ready to do whatever it takes to help the team win.”