The Mumbai Indians, who have won four games on the trot after losing their opening game, will be taking on hosts Kings XI Punjab in Indore on April 20. The Glenn Maxwell led team have lost three successive matches and return home, where they have won both their matches so far in VIVO IPL 2017. Kings XI, who are currently in the lower half of the points table, will be keen to get back to their winning ways to keep themselves in the race. During the pre-match interaction with the media, Assistant Coach MithunManhassaid, “We will try to fill up the gaps of whatever shortcomings have cropped up during the losses and hope those will produce positive results.” “We look at the whole Mumbai Indians team as a challenge. We won’t be looking at an individual but at the whole unit. You have to prepare for whoever the opposition is. The effort is always to give your best and hope that the result is in your favour,” Manhas added. The Mumbai Indians, who are riding on the confidence of beating formidable sides like Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, too are keen to further strengthen their position and will be putting their best foot forward when they take the field for their sixth game. “We treat them (KXIP) as every other team. Because we have beaten last year’s champions SRH, or RCB or KKR doesn’t mean we can let our guard down against a team that has lost three games in a row,” MI bowling coach, Shane Bond said while talking about MI’s opponents.

“We stick to our strengths.There are world class players in the opposition; they are hard to beat. We will play exactly the same way as we do against any other opposition,” he added.

The KXIP Assistant Coach said that the narrow loss in their last match against SRH won’t bother them much. “We are going to win some close games also.So it won’t bother us much,” he remarked. Speaking about Manan Vohra, who had put up a lone fight in the previous match, Manan has said, “He has evolved in the last two-three years. He played very good innings, especially considering it was under pressure and while chasing and when there wasn’t a proper batsman with him at the other end. He has played a second fiddle role in earlier seasons when he has batted with Shaun Marsh or Virender Sehwag or some other big international player.But now he has come into his own and I think he will gain a lot of confidence from this knock which is also good for the team.” Speaking about MI’s consistent dominance, Bond said, “Contributions from everyone is obviously really important. We have done well at the moment. There have been a couple of games we have won that we probably shouldn’t have won and got over the line and that has to do with players putting up their hands up at key times. We have got a well-rounded side. We have got our bases covered, we have fielded really well. We prepare really well; the guys train really hard and when you get the combination you get on the roll, it gives confidence and results in wins.” Explaining how the MI team operates and the team’s preparations, Bond said, “The first thing is to understand your position and the ground that you are playing on and then not be intimated by the opposition or the conditions. Be well aware of skills that we have in the team.” Speaking about the conditions in Indore, Bond said, “It looks like a good wicket with nice grass covering.It is hot, and (the pitch is) dry underneath, so I think the bounce is something that we are going to have to adjust to.The boundary is small, so I reckon we have to score around 200 – 220 (if we bat first).”