MI’s Suryakumar Yadav insists team will stick to their strengths v Sunrisers rather than worry about whether five-time champs will end up with an IPL-16 Playoffs berth by the end of today
Mumbai Indians batter Suryakumar Yadav during a practice session at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. Pics/PTI
It’s a do-or-die game for five-time champions Mumbai Indians, but even a Sunday win over Hyderabad Sunrisers does not assure them an IPL-16 Playoffs slot.
Rohit Sharma & Co’s fortunes depend on how Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Gujarat Titans perform later in the evening.
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However, MI’s in-form batter Suryakumar Yadav, who has scored 486 runs in the tournament, is not worried about the situation.
“No worries, sir. We will make 200 in 13 overs,” Suryakumar said during a pre-match press conference on Saturday, when asked what would happen if RCB beat Gujarat Titans later in the evening.
Mumbai Indians’s captain Rohit Sharma walks off after being dismissed at Chennai on May 6
MI, who lost their last game to LSG by five runs in Lucknow, have 14 points from 13 games. There is nothing to lose for SRH, who failed to register a single win in their last three games and are placed at the bottom in the table with eight points.
“It is just another game [v SRH] for us. From the outside, yes, it looks like a big game. We have to wait for other results, but we know what we have been doing here at Wankhede [Stadium] in the last four-five games. We know our strengths and strong areas. We back that and will focus on those areas only,” Suryakumar explained.
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The India T20 star, who scored a 49-ball unbeaten 103 against defending champions Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede Stadium recently, wants to keep it simple. “The ground is so vast; there are still so many areas that need to be explored. But I don’t try to do anything different. When everything is going so well, why do you need to look for a new area?” remarked Suryakumar when mid-day asked him whether there were any more shots left to hit.
Sunrisers head coach Brian Lara
Meanwhile, SRH head coach and former West Indies captain Brian Lara wants his team to spoil MI’s party. “We are here I would say, to upset the party for Mumbai. We want to win and it will be great to at least end in that fashion. But it is going to take a lot of effort and professionalism in putting a team together moving forward. It’s the same players, but to get the right attitude and to get everyone pulling in the right direction is very, very important,” Lara said.
486
The number of runs MI star Suryakumar Yadav has scored in 13 IPL-16 matches