Mumbai, May 20 (IANS): Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel believes the brillianht execution of plans led to their amazing turnaround in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
At one stage Mumbai were at the bottom half of the table, but then they came back strongly to secure the second spot and now have made it to the final after beating the Chennai Super Sings (CSK) at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.
"There is no set way that says that if you do thing this way it would win games. It is about making sure that you plan properly and execute it. We did our planning well and executed it brilliantly," Parthiv was quoted as saying by iplt20.com on Wednesday.
Asked about winning their rich form over the last few encounters, he said: "We knew that we have to win all the games. We were not taking the pressure of having to win nine matches. We were just taking it one game at a time and that’s how we planned," the opening batsman added.
"We kept ticking the boxes game after game and we starting gaining momentum. We know well about this tournament; if you get on a roll you win lot of matches and we knew it (that we could make it to the final)."
Parthiv also said he did not mind playing back to back matches and then taking on CSK at the Wankhede where they were egged on by the local support.
He said Chennai were without swashbuckling opener Brendon McCullum and that made a difference.
"We don’t mind playing back to back matches when we have momentum with us. And then obviously coming to Wankhede we always knew that the crowd will be with us," the 30-year-old said.
"We knew the conditions well and they were without Brendon McCullum and they obviously didn’t do well this season in away games. So we were just trying to do our best and win the game."
Parthiv stated coach Ricky Ponting too has been of immense help as he has taught them to be aggressive and motivated the side when it was needed.
"He (Ponting) has been a great help. I have played against him, he is always aggressive, always busy on the field. He has been the same as a coach. He always wanted us to be aggressive and always wanted us to back ourselves. And he has motivated us," he said of the former Australia captain.
Asked about the strategy for the final to be played on Sunday, he said: "Just stay calm. We believe that big matches and pressure situations get the best out of us and hence we will try and stay calm."