Kolkata: Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma on Saturday urged his players to make “one last effort” on their “biggest day” to emerge triumphant at the Eden Gardens on Sunday when they lock horns with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) final.
“At the end of it all, you are waiting for the biggest day to get into the final and win the cup. No matter what you have done in the past if you don’t win all your hard work goes in vain,” Rohit said at the prematch media conference.
“We did not start off well but I always believe there is character in the team, the guys had a lot of potential. It was a matter of time before we could put everything together.
“As captain for me, it is important to say it is one last effort we need. We are lucky to be in the final and we are really determined to change the table and try and do our best tomorrow.”
Rohit, who was instrumental in the Mumbai Indians’ only IPL title win at the same venue two years back, said he does not see any vast difference in the pitch from what he has played before. The 28-year-old believes it will remain a good wicket till the last ball is delivered.
“(There is) no vast difference. Only mentally you got to be prepared, all the Indian players have played here a lot. So it won’t make too much of a difference for us.
“The foreign players in these parts of the world playing here in Kolkata might find it difficult, but then again even they have played at the ground before. We started our campaign here, and I don’t think it can make a lot of difference,” he said.
Chennai Super Kings batsman Suresh Raina, meanwhile, said they would want to just “go out and enjoy” even though they have only won two of their five summit battles so far in the tournament.
“There will no pressure on us whatsoever I believe, need to play on our merits. Whichever team will handle the pressure better will come out on top. If you look at our bowling line up we have done really well, and we have executed our plans really well.
“So really we need to go there and enjoy the game,” Raina said at the prematch conference.
On playing against a side that had beaten them in the 2013 final at the same venue, Raina said: “When you play Mumbai Indians, you really need to play good cricket, especially here in Kolkata where they beat us in 2013. So we really need to play well.”
