Paine concerned about Gambhir’s inability to stay calm under pressure
“Their last two series wins out here they had Ravi Shastri who was fantastic,” Paine said.
Rohit Sharma, under whose captaincy Mumbai Indians were crowned champions in 2013 and 2015, is eyeing to replicate the wonder they did in the sixth edition to win the title.
“We were in the same situation in 2013 as well, we lost the first qualifier and then went on to win the title,” Rohit said in a video released by Mumbai Indians ahead of their qualifying clash against Kolkata Knight Riders at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday.
The 30-year-old batsman is positioned on the brink of completing 6500 runs in T20s, with just eight runs short of the milestone.
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Gautam Gambhir-led Kolkata Knight Riders are coming to play the qualifier match from a rain-affected win over Sunrisers Hyderabad. The eliminator match on Wednesday witnessed a curtailed-overs game, where Kolkata emerged as winner through the Duckworth Lewis method.
“We have to come to the ground with a positive frame of mind thinking that there will be 40 overs of play. Conditions are conditions; it's something that you can't control. You've got to focus on the job at hand and that is coming out here and playing good cricket,” the Mumbai captain said.
In ten seasons of the tournament, KKR and Mumbai have faced each other 20 times so far, where Mumbai won 15 and Kolkata swayed five matches.
“We'll be confident against these guys (KKR) but I believe that whoever is good on that particular day wins the game. We'll not be thinking that we have beaten them twice in this tournament. We have to come out and do what we have been doing as a team,” Rohit added.
Rohit, who has managed to hit 283 runs in 15 matches this season, has a remarkable record against KKR. With a strike rate of 138.74, he averages 48.85 against them in the cash-rich league.
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