Mumbai Indians will be facing the Gujarat Lions at the Lions’ new home ground, Green Park, Kanpur. The pitch is virtually unknown, as not a single T20 game had been played until the Gujarat Lions faced the Kolkata Knightriders on 19th May. The strategy for tomorrow’s game will be very important as it is a crucial match for both the teams. Parthiv Patel who has done well this season seemed pretty focused. The southpaw opener said, “I played here 2-3 months ago but the wicket has become better since then. Earlier the impression was that the wicket here is low, but now the wicket is a lot better. However, this is a T20 game, you have to make changes to your strategies on the field. Our focus will be on the process.”

This is the last match for both the teams, but the race to the playoff spots is still wide open. The wicketkeeper batsmen seemed relaxed ahead of the match as he said, “If we win the match we will qualify. We are not taking any extra pressure on ourselves because we know that if we play well then we can beat any team. We will be going in with the same focus and mind-set and if we prepare well then the result will be good.”

The points table has been close this season. Talking about the tight race he said, “The points table is tight because all the teams this season are equally good. I guess all the players and the teams have had a good IPL till now. The level of teams this year has been similar, and that’s why the playoff qualification has been tricky.” The match is at Kanpur which is incidentally GL’s captain, Suresh Raina’s, home ground. Parthiv Patel said, “This is Raina’s ground but we have to plan against all their players. There will be a bowlers meeting and we will make plans for every batsman. They are a strong team and we will make a plan for all their players, not just one particular player.”