UNDER PRESSURE
The captain of Rajasthan Royals, Rahul Dravid, has said that his side will not be under pressure in qualifier 2 of the ongoing IPL because people don’t have massive expectations with them.
Rajasthan Royals made their way into qualifier 2 yesterday night by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eliminator played at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi. The Royals won the match by 4 wickets courtesy a fine knock from Brad Hodge.
On a low, slow wicket, Hodge made batting look very easy and played some great shots to score his first half century of the season. He scored 54 off just 29 balls with 2 fours and 5 sixes.
Now, in qualifier 2, Rajasthan will take on Mumbai Indians on Friday at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Talking to the reporters in the post match press conference, Dravid said, “It has been a very hard week for us. We have gone through a lot. But, we kept our spirits high for this game and managed to win it.”
“It’s always good to have experienced players like Brad Hodge in the side. He has been around for many, many years and he has seen it all. He knows how to play in pressure situations.”
When asked about the next match against Mumbai Indians, Dravid said, “Mumbai is one of the strongest sides in the competition and they are the favourites to win that match. They are a team full of superstars. So, the pressure is on those guys. We will just go out there, enjoy ourselves and try to play some good cricket.”
The Sunrisers’ skipper Cameron White was looking absolutely gutted in the press conference. He said, “It was a great game of cricket. Perhaps, we were 15-20 runs short, but, the boys showed great character and fought till the end. Brad Hodge showed today why he is one of the best T20 players in the world.”