By Ravichandran Ashwin,

Often teams will have to end up winning all games at the back end of the tournament and this is the situation for us as well this year. Despite playing some excellent cricket, it is unfortunate that we find ourselves at just 10 points; but it is important to remember that the top two teams have 16 points each (as of 27th April) while the rest of the teams find themselves in a muddle in the middle. If we play some good cricket in the games against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders and knock them over, it doesn’t really matter what happens in the last game.

Picture: SPORTZPICS

We’ve done a lot of good things throughout the season; but we’ve sadly not been able to close our bowling or batting innings’ well and that will be an area to address moving forward. Having said that, we can’t keep making changes and expect new personnel to come into the team and do well right away because they will need some time to find their feet. I believe we have some quality players in our batting order and through the bowling ranks, so we would like to maintain some solidity and just chance the team depending on the pitch conditions.

We will try and back everyone to fire through the rest of the season and we’re confident they will come good. Batting in the middle order at the back end of a tournament is not such an easy thing, only if we back these players will they find a way then to come out on top. They have done it in the past, so it is important to get behind them.

Despite the pressures, the team vibe is extraordinary! They are all feeling very positive and really looking forward to that next game against Hyderabad. Mohammed Shami and the other pacers are extremely charged up after the RCB game. There is enough quality in the fast bowling unit to come through, so if we can tap into that and have a good powerplay and a good finish in the future games, it will give us a strong chance to succeed.

Of course, we are all fired up, but we also need our fans to back us. The support at Mohali has been extraordinary and those on social media, their passion has been a strong motivator for the team. We hope they continue extending their support and turn up in large numbers for the home games to help us get the edge for qualifying into the playoffs.