IPL-8: Focused on task at hand, says Ricky Ponting

Mumbai Indians are determined on playing their best to enter play-offs, says coach Ricky Ponting ahead of the must-win match against Hyderabad in Uppal today

Hyderabad: With a play-off berth at stake, Mumbai Indians coach Ricky Ponting on Saturday said that his wards are fully focussed on playing their best cricket in a must-win IPL match against Sunrisers Hyderabad here today.

Both Mumbai Indians and the Sunrisers have 14 points each from 13 matches and a win in their last league match today is a must for either team to qualify for the play-offs.

Mumbai Indians players celebrate the wicket of Kolkata Knight Riders’ Manish Pandey at Wankhede on Thursday. Pics/Atul Kamble

“It is a must-win game for both teams. That’s what it has come down to. We are conscious over the last few weeks of making sure that our players have not focused on anything else other than the task at hand, the next game,” he said.

“There has been a lot of talk about who is going to finish where. That is not relevant to us. We want to prepare well, try and learn about the conditions as much as possible.

“We had a chance to watch the Sunrisers Hyderabad play their cricket. But, to me, it’s really important that we are focused on us. How we are going to play our best cricket tomorrow,” Ponting told reporters on the eve of the match.

Noting that the team is yet to play to its full potential in the tournament, Ponting hopes his side would come up with a good performance today.

Ponting said it was unlikely that too many changes would be made for today’s game.

“The balance of the team is good and we have not made many changes in the composition of the team,” the coach said.

Skipper David Warner is the man in form for SRH with 556 runs in 13 matches

Promising youngsters
Praising young India players, the former Australia captain said, “Hardik Pandya and Jagadeesha Suchithare are among the promising young Indian players in the team and the Mumbai outfit is going to harness their talent.”
For SRH, captain David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan have been doing a fine job at the top of order for Sunrisers and their middle-order batsmen like Moises Henriques, Eoin Morgan and Lokesh Rahul have also been making useful contributions to the team cause.

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