We need to back ourselves: Hardik Pandya

Bengaluru: With the Indian Premier League reaching its business end and team’s desperately vying for the coveted top four spot, neither Mumbai Indian nor Royal Challengers Bangalore can afford to slip up going forward.

With the duo set to battle it out on Wednesday, Mumbai all-rounder Hardik Pandya is looking forward put the morale sapping lose to Sunrisers Hyderabad behind and concentrate on the challenge ahead.

“Its pretty simple because what happened, happened and what’s history is history. We are just looking forward to this game. It’s an important game for both of us so and we are preparing for that,” said the young all-rounder when asked about the morale in the camp.

“The pressure is on us as it is on them. We all know a loss might mean we can’t go through to the top four. Let’s see who handles the pressure better.”

With a fearsome battling line up that consists of the perfect blend of traditional strikers and sloggers, Pandya believes the important thing for the bowlers is to be confident in themselves.

“In the end, as a bowler, you need to be confident. You need to back yourself, wait and try to make them make mistakes. AB de Villiers wants us to do differently so that’s why he does all the different stuff. It’s best if we keep it simple and wait for them to make mistakes,” said the Indian international. “We all know how good they are as a batting unit and bowlers, including myself, need to be at the top of our game.”