Navi Mumbai: Mumbai Indians vice-captain Zaheer Khan was thrilled at making his maiden final of IPL. But, despite the win, he says the team's feet remain firmly on the ground.
Excerpts:
On Sachin Tendulkar’s injury: Yeah, we are a little worried, in a couple of days we are going to take a call. Let’s see how he shapes up, obviously he’s got a few stitches on his hand, it’s a bit of a worry but we are going to take a call in a couple of days time. To be honest everyone was so happy in the dressing room, and they were just jumping around, so I haven’t really had a chance to speak to him. But I spoke to (coach) Robin (Singh) and he said [in a] couple of days time we’ll take a call [on] how exactly he shapes up.
On his role as stand-in captain: Well, yeah, it was unexpected, it was unfortunate that Sachin had to leave the field and I had to take the responsibility. Yeah, it was good, I mean all’s well that ends well. We are happy that we are in the final - that was the major cause and [we] just want to keep focused and wait till [the] 25th comes for the last push.
On MI’s over-dependence on Sachin Tendulkar: Whichever team he plays for relies on him - no doubt about that. Obviously today it was unfortunate that he got out early and injured his hand but we’ve reached the final so not all credit goes to him.
On the extent of the injury: Well I don’t know what exactly the status is. And, honestly, I am a cricketer not a physio (laughs) so I’d like to stick to my job. I hope he plays in the final, I am sure all the Mumbai Indians supporters would be praying that he plays in the final and we all also expect him to play. But some things are not in your hands. As I said, we are going to take a call in a couple of days times so we just need to be patient, wait for a couple of days and see how it is, you never know.
On the Mumbai Indians bowling attack: See, our bowling unit has been performing really well, I am really happy with their effort, even today our plan was to be aggressive up front because the first six overs were really crucial. And I was really happy with the intensity on the field, the whole team was up for it, you know they were running hard on the field and looking for the early breakthroughs.
On contending with batsmen like Kieron Pollard: Well, that’s the nature of T20 cricket, you need to be able to handle pressure well, you need to get your yorkers going, you need to be clear in your mind what’s your plan. So it’s really important to be clear about your plan and just stick to it and execute it well, that’s the way I look at it.
On the pitch and getting Kevin Pietersen’s wicket: Well it was Harbhajan’s call, he wanted to bowl from this end, last match we played at DY Patil he bowled from this end. So it was his call, see, I mean at the end of the day you still got Pietersen out from this end so I am happy with that.
On the importance of Abhishek Nayar: Abhishek is our key player, he’s been playing for Mumbai Indians for the last couple of years, he’s been really consistent. The initial part of IPL (2010) he was struggling with injury and as he is [now] fit we wanted to use him up the order so that (Ambati) Rayudu can face spinners in the middle overs.
On the final being a day after Sachin Tendulkar’s birthday: Knowing Sachin I am sure he is up for it. It doesn’t matter what has happened exactly right now in this game, I am still hopeful. That’s the reason we are saying we are going to take a call in a couple of days time and see how things shape up.
On him thinking of giving a birthday gift (winning the competition) to Sachin Tendulkar: Well that will be a belated birthday gift I guess.
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