Mumbai Indians opening batsman Dwayne Smith said his team would look to put behind the loss against Chennai Super Kings in the Qualifier-I and try to make the most of a second opportunity in the qualifier-II against Rajasthan Royals.
“Cricket, more so Twenty20 cricket, is a funny game. It can change within one or two balls. It will be important for us to stay confident and come out with a good performance,” Smith said as Mumbai Indians warmed up for its practice session at the Eden Gardens under lights.
Its opponent Rajasthan Royals was travelling after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator on Wednesday and preferred to rest for a day ahead of the match.
Shaking off the pressure
Smith preferred to shake off the pressure and said the Mumbai Indians would look to take tomorrow’s do-or-die game as any other match. “I guess it comes like any other match. I don’t try to see this as being bigger than other games and bring pressure onto myself. So, we would try to be confident and go out and do well,” Smith said.
The Caribbean all-rounder said the pressure to perform would be on both the sides. “All of us want to be in the final. The pressure will be on them as well, as they will have to beat us to be in the final,” Smith said. “They (Rajasthan Royals) have beaten us once, and we have beaten them once (in the league stage) and now we’ll go out and fight,” he added.
Smith said the onus is on Mumbai Indians to makes amends on the mistakes made in the loss against the Chennai Super Kings. “As I see it, we stumbled a bit after I got out (against CSK) and we’ll try to correct that in the game against Royals,” he said. About his own performance the player said he would look to play a more constructive role and try to stay longer in the centre.
“Yes, it’s frustrating. I’ve got five or six starts, three fifties but did not carry on (after that) by getting out to careless shots. I’ve now pushed them to the back of my mind and look forward to make a better contribution,” Smith said.
Tendulkar’s chances
About Sachin Tendulkar’s chances of making a return, Smith said the iconic player is making speedy recovery. “He is recovering well. Hopefully, he will be fine tomorrow,” he said.
Tendulkar had a long stint at the nets. He had suffered a wrist injury on the left hand during Mumbai Indians’ league outing against the Sunrisers on May 13 and has missed the next three matches.
