27 April,2009 08:35 AM IST | | Sourav Ganguly
Sachin has been in good form and the Knight Riders wouldn't mind his early exit in PE today
We have come to Port Elizabeth which is one the most beautiful cities in South Africa. It's bang next to the sea and it has a cricket ground which is famous for the band that plays right throughout from the stands. I have been to Port Elizabeth many times with the Indian team and it seems to get better and better.
Flat track
The wicket here isu00a0 one of the flattest in South Africa as some of the runs scored in the one-day series between Australia and South Africa depicted.u00a0 This track will provide a bit of assistance to the spinners just like some of the pitches in South Africa are doing now since it is the fag end of the season. This is one of the reasons why we have got Ajantha Mendis in the squad and I am sure he will have an important role to play as the tournament goes on.u00a0
We play the Mumbai Indians today. In the first phase of the tournament not many teams have gone ahead of each other and the way Twenty20 cricket goes, any team can beat the other on a particular day.u00a0 As a team, we are really disappointed with the result of the game against Rajasthan Royals, a game which we should have won easily on Thursday.u00a0 But we need to put this behind and focus on today's game.
Mumbai Indians are a pretty balanced team with their strength lying in the top order in the form of Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya. If we can get them early, we will go a long way getting into the game. It will not be easy for new players like J P Duminy and Dwayne Bravo to play Mendis for the first time. Sachin has been in good form and am sure the Knight Riders wouldn't mind his early exit.
u00a0
The Mumbai Indians have a good bowling attack in the form of Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga, Bravo and Harbhajan Singh. Malinga looks in good form and has come back after a long injury break. He is bowling with a lot of variation.u00a0 Zaheer has had an outstanding year in Test cricket and although he might be a bit tired with the amount of cricket he has played, he will still be a major force.u00a0
There will be some swing for the seamers with the white new ball, but there will be assistance for the spinners as well.u00a0 We have played well after a poor start against the Deccan Chargers and hopefully we will be able to carry the good form in today's game as well.
Our form with the bat will be the key and some of the big names we have in the squad will have to stand up in this crucial game. Two points for either of the teams will be very handy because nobody wants to go far behind the rest.u00a0
For us, the happiest bit is that we have seen some sunshine and hopefully it stays on till today and also for the rest of the tournament.
