IPL 8: MI have the license to be fearless in play-offs, says Rohit Sharma

Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma has said his team will play “fearless cricket” after securing play-off qualification of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). After a shaky start to the tournament the Mumbai outfit bounced back in some style to clinch the second spot after the completion of the league stage and advance to the play-offs. [caption id=“attachment_2250596” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Rohit Sharma. BCCI[/caption] “Finishing in the top two obviously gives us a chance to play fearlessly. I feel we have played good games till now but the play-offs will be a different ball game. You can’t afford to make too many mistakes but knowing you have a second chance it gives us the license to play fearless cricket,” Rohit was quoted as saying by iplt20.com on Monday. The skipper said they will be focussing on their strengths in the play-offs and not worry too much about the opposition they are facing. “We have been in this situation before in 2013 where we played against the same opposition, qualified in the top two and we had another chance. We want to go out there and play without thinking about the result. We won’t think about who we are playing, we will be focusing on our strengths,” he said. Asked about their amazing turnaround in fortunes, Rohit said: “When we were losing at the start of the tournament, we were not playing to our potential. We always knew we had a lot of talent and ability in the dressing room and it was all about getting that game to the fore.” “The support staff has helped a lot in holding the team together. Sometimes when you lose, the guys in the team tend to drift away a little bit but the support staff did a fabulous job of holding everyone together.” The 28-year-old added he will treat the play-offs as a fresh new tournament. “I am lucky to have guys like those who are willing to change the course of the game at any given point of time, whether with the bat or ball. I am really happy with the way we stand right now but nothing is over yet. For us, we have finished one tournament and enter into a fresh tournament now. If we play to our potential this is what we can do,” he concluded. IANS