Having lost their IPL-8 opener to KKR recently, Mumbai Indians happy to host KXIP at fortress Wankhede
Mumbai Indiansu00e2u0080u0099 pacer Lasith Malinga during training at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday
Very few teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) have experienced phenomenal success at home like Mumbai Indians.
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It's been two seasons -- 12 matches -- now that any IPL team has been able to break the blue brigade's dominance at the Wankhede Stadium.
Mumbai Indians’ mentor Sachin Tendulkar with skipper Rohit Sharma during a practice session at Wankhede on Saturday. Pics/Atul Kamble
Before the IPL-8 kicked off, Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma stressed on the importance to start well. Their opening clash did not go the way they would have wished, losing to defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets at Eden Gardens.
Now, back to their fortress, Rohit would be hoping that Mumbai Indians maintain their 100 per cent win record at home and also register their first IPL-8 victory when they take on Kings XI Punjab on Sunday.
'We play well at home'
“Last year, we lost our all our five games at the beginning (in UAE). We turned things around from here (Wankhede). We proved again that we play well at home. We want to replicate it. It is a beautiful wicket here.
“We are just going to go about our normal stuff and look to bounce back after our loss,” Mumbai Indians' star Kiwi all-rounder Corey Anderson said on Saturday.
Mumbai Indians’ pacer Lasith Malinga during training at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday
In 2013, the year in which Mumbai Indians clinched their maiden IPL title, they won all their eight league matches at home. In the last IPL too, MI won all their four home matches -- this after a disastrous first leg in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where they lost all their five matches.
The winning streak at the Wankhede Stadium helped them turnaround their fortunes in the tournament. Mumbai Indians went on to play the Eliminator at the Brabourne Stadium where they lost to Chennai Super Kings.
Mumbai Indians would also look to go one-up over Kings XI Punjab as both teams have a 50-50 win-loss record from the 14 IPL matches.
'KXIP are a strong team'
“We have to make sure we execute our plans well, take our time and back ourselves. They (Punjab) are a strong team. We didn't have a good day the other day (losing to KKR). We had a good batting performance, but we let ourselves down in the bowling department. Hopefully, we will fix those things. We are pretty confident about Sunday's match,” said Anderson.
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