Lucknow, May 15 (IANS) Having made a brilliant comeback to get into prime position to make it to the Playoffs stage in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, five-time champions Mumbai Indians will take on Lucknow Super Giants in an away clash with chances of moving up to the second spot in the table.
Mumbai Indians have 12 points from 12 games and are placed third behind four-time winners Chennai Super Kings (15) and Gujarat Titans (16). CSK have played 13 games while the Titans have played 12 games, thus putting Mumbai Indians in a good position to overtake Chennai by winning against Lucknow on Tuesday.
One of the reasons for Mumbai Indians making a comeback, according to veteran spinner, Piyush Chawla is that the players are backing each other and enjoying their game.
Currently, in the middle of his best-ever IPL season, leg spinner Chawla said that the team is well placed to make the playoffs with their destiny in their own hands ahead of the match against Lucknow Super Giants tomorrow.
“Things are in our control. If we win our remaining two matches, we can finish 1st or 2nd. We just want to play good cricket. The team picked up momentum at the right time. The confidence is very good but there is a very thin line between confidence and overconfidence and we don’t want to cross that line,” Chawla said on the eve of the clash with LSG.
Chawla missed out on the IPL for the first time last year. The snub prompted him to think about his future but he wanted to return to the tournament for his son.
“When I wasn’t picked last year and doing commentary, a lot of things were going on in my mind. I wasn’t able to decide whether I should come back or explore other things. My son is growing up and he was watching a lot of IPL and was very excited about it. So my family told me to push myself and just play for him. So I am playing for him and putting in that extra effort,” he said.
A veteran in the game, Chawla said he didn’t do anything special after missing out last year but just kept the belief in his abilities and backed himself.
“When you’ve been playing for 20 years, you don’t need to do anything special. I was playing T20 matches wherever I could. I am somebody who is done with bowling in the nets. I love the challenge of bowling in a match,” said Chawla in the pre-match press conference on Monday.
Despite playing at the top level for close to two decades now, Chawla is not in the mood to stop anytime soon at 34.
“If it’s up to me, I’d like to play for 10 more years. As long as I’m contributing to the team and putting my body on the line, I’ll continue to play.”
MI have been unstoppable as the tournament has gone well after a slightly tough start. Chawla put the team’s success down to them backing each and getting into the groove at the right time.
“We were just backing each other and enjoying our cricket. The best thing about cricket is that it is a team game but it’s also an individual sport because only if the individuals perform can the team do well. People say that Mumbai conceded 200 runs but we chased it down as well, so you can imagine the kind of pitches we are playing on. The way we have finished games is lovely to watch from the dressing room,” Chawla said.
After the clash with Lucknow Super Giants, Mumbai Indians play their final league match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at home in Wankhede Stadium on May 21 to wrap up the proceedings.
Rohit Sharma’s side will aim to win both games and hope to finish in the top two.
–IANS
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