Mumbai Indians all-rounder Daniel Sams has said they are a good team and they will be determined to end the tournament on a high by winning the last four matches of the league stage.
Mumbai has managed only two wins in their 10 matches and they have been knocked out of the playoff race.
The five-time champions had struggled to get going in their first eight matches as they couldn’t come up with a collective effort. However, Mumbai has won their last two matches, which will give their camp something to cherish.
Mumbai was able to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat against Gujarat Titans as they had won by five runs. GT was cruising in the run-chase but MI was able to bounce back stronger.
“Obviously we’re not going to be able to make the playoffs, but how we set up the rest of the tournament for us is, we’ve got a little mini IPL. So the last six games – we’ve played two of them already – we’re just kind of judging ourselves on that. Yes, this year we can’t make the playoffs but we can still build on a lot of things for the coming season,” said Sams in the pre-match virtual press conference ahead of the match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the DY Patil Stadium on Monday.
“So every game, regardless of whether it’s an important game, whether it’s the final, whether it’s the first round of the tournament – for us as players, they’re just as important. I think that’s the really important thing, not to have more value on one game or another, because then it makes you prepare the same, the same routines.”
“Motivation for the guys is we want to win the rest of our games. That’s actually what’s motivating us. We want to finish this IPL on a bit of a roll. We see our team as a really good team, and we want to prove that over the next coming days,” added Sams.
Mumbai hasn’t played to their potential in the ongoing season of the IPL and the results haven’t gone their way. The Rohit Sharma-led has also been unlucky in some of the matches as they haven’t had the rub of the green on their side.
On the other hand, Daniel Sams was smashed for 35 runs by Pat Cummins when MI last met KKR in the ongoing season. Sams revealed the team support backed him to come good in the next few games.
“If I’m being completely honest, it was really, really challenging. You definitely start to have doubts. It took me a little bit to kind of move from doubting myself and worrying about all that, to be able to move on and think, ‘What can I learn from this?’ Basically, everyone here has been amazing. I’ve had great conversations in regards to, looking at what I’ve done in the past, what I’ve been able to achieve,” recalled Sams.
MI will take on KKR at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai on Monday.
