The Mumbai Indians camp must have been pretty sombre for the last couple of days, smarting from their heavy 85-run defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Their strong batting line-up that, led by Rohit Sharma, has overcome many a team in VIVO IPL 2016, capitulated for 92. Although that must have been a hard pill to swallow, the team is doing all it can to ensure that the ghosts of Vizag are laid to rest ahead of the all-important away match against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

MI all-rounder, Hardik Pandya spoke for his whole team when he said the best way to bounce back is to forget the past. “It is pretty simple. We just don’t think about what happened in the last match,” Hardik said. “This is a very crucial game for us as well as RCB and we are looking forward to it. We are preparing for it. RCB is a strong team. But the pressure is on both us and them. This is a must win match for both teams.”

After a few fumbles, RCB seem to have found their mojo back with victories in their last two matches. Those two wins – against Rising Pune Supergiants and Kings XI Punjab – were delivered by their terrific duo of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers respectively. Hardik knew that batting is RCB’s superpower and called for the MI bowlers to face the challenge with confidence and simplicity.

“Knowing that is a high-scoring ground, as a bowler you just have to be ready to go for runs. If a bowler goes for 40 runs in four overs, it might turn out to be an economical spell here,” he said.

“You just have to go with confidence and be positive about your chances. You cannot go thinking about how AB, Virat or Gayle bat. You have to back yourself. Someone like an AB wants you to do something different. So, the best way to go is by keeping things simple.
“Everyone knows that RCB have a strong batting unit, and as bowlers we have to be at the top of our game against them.”