'Need to play fearless cricket'

Corey Anderson, who ensured Mumbai Indians a berth in the IPL VII Play-offs, said they needed to play fearless cricket to achieve their dream – defending the title.

“A lot of people had written us off coming into that game (against Rajasthan Royals). But to pull off what people thought was impossible was a good feeling. It’s almost a sense of relief that we are now in the Play-offs, where every team starts on an even playing field. If we can continue to play fearlessly, we have a real shot at winning this,” said Anderson on Tuesday ahead of Mumbai’s Qualifier 2 against Chennai Super Kings.

“Once Rajasthan had put on board 189, there were many in the dressing room, myself included, who thought, ‘that’s a lot of runs to get’. But we stayed optimistic. There was still the desire to drive through and win it. If we can keep that fearless nature about us, we’ll be a force to reckon with,” added Anderson.

Anderson admitted that a chat with Robin Singh, assistant coach of Mumbai Indians, helped him to play that memorable knock against Rajasthan. “In fact, T20 is the format in which I have struggled the most, and the more I play it, the more I am learning.

I had worked with him at nets a couple of days ago. He was telling me to stand still, and where to bat when Tambe was bowling. Batting on off-stump, covering myself, and watching the ball – things that you can sometime forget when there’s so much happening. He was just calming everyone down and letting us know that it was still possible,” he noted.

Anderson attributed his struggles in the earlier stages of the IPL to complex thinking. “You chat at training and they help where they can. T20 is a fickle game, as it’s a fine line between scoring runs and getting out. The more you think about it (struggle), sometimes it creates a deeper hole and that’s what they told me. You just have to back yourself. Luckily, I did the other day, and it came off,” said Anderson.