Rohit Sharma believes finishing second in the league has taken the pressure off Mumbai Indians as they line up for the first qualifier against Chennai Super Kings today.
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The loser of this game gets another chance to play in the second qualifier on Friday against the winner of the Eliminator involving the third (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and fourth-placed teams (Rajasthan Royals).
Mumbai enter the play-offs on the back of impressive victories against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders and captain Sharma is hoping to carry that winning confidence in the upcoming games.
“Finishing in the top two obv-iously gives us a chance to play fearlessly,” he said. “I feel we have played good games until now but the play-offs will be a different ball game. You can’t afford to make too many mistakes but knowing you have a second chance it gives us the license to play fearless cricket.”
“Momentum plays a huge role in this format and it is very important to carry that winning habit into the next game every time you play.
“We do enter the play-offs with a lot of confidence and we know it won’t be easy, as has been the case throughout the league stages.
“We are prepared for it and we will perform to our best. It is just a matter of being in the present and not thinking about what we have done in the league stages. We can take positives from it. We know the conditions and I am sure we can put up a great show,” he said.
Mumbai’s campaign began poorly as they lost five of their first six games but they bounced back reeling off seven wins in their next eight games to rise to the second place.
However, they will be up against heavyweights Chennai, who have an amazing record in the tournament having made it to the final six times, cornering glory twice in 2010 and 2011. Come the they raise their game and their rivals have to really come up with something special to upstage them.
Sharma believes Mumbai are up for the challenge deriving inspiration from their triumphant run in 2013, where they lost to Chennai in the first qualifier by 48 runs but recovered to win the second qualifier against Rajasthan Royals by four wickets and the final against MS Dhoni & Co by 23 runs.
“We have been in this situation before in 2013,” Sharma recalled.
“We want to go out there and play without thinking about the result. We won’t think about who we are playing, we will be focusing on our strengths.”
