Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 11 : Ahead of his side's Indian Premier League (IPL) game against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Donovan Ferreira said that his team should have qualified for playoffs by now, but it is a long tournament and they look forward to not leave their qualification "too late".
RR and CSK will lock horns at Chepauk Stadium on Sunday. CSK desperately needs a win to keep their playoff hopes steady following a loss to Gujarat Titans yesterday. They are in fourth place in the points table with six wins and six losses, giving them 12 points. RR is at the second spot, with eight wins and three losses, losing their previous game to Delhi Capitals (DC) by 20 runs on May 7.
Speaking ahead of the game, Ferreira said during the pre-game press conference, "We should have already qualified for the playoffs by now. But, the IPL is a long tournament, and obviously, the second half is important."
"We had set out nicely by winning most of the games in the first half, and this game (against CSK) is quite important. We have three games left, but we do not want to leave it too late and put pressure on ourselves," he added.
The batter said that the team needs to keep backing itself and have the momentum going.
"It is about training with the match intensity with the middle order so that when the moment arrives, your skills are sharpened, and you back yourself to pull the game through," he added.
Ferreira also said that since the track is a turner and will favour spin, spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin will play a big role in the game.
On playing in the heat, Ferreira said, "I do not think really that you can be 100% prepared because this heat and this humidity is crazy. But hopefully, we have been training in this heat and this humidity the last two days so that should condition us to be ready for the game."
Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jos Buttler, Kuldeep Sen, Tanush Kotian, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Kunal Singh Rathore, Navdeep Saini, Keshav Maharaj, Shimron Hetmyer, Nandre Burger, Dhruv Jurel, Abid Mushtaq
Chennai Super Kings Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w), Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Simarjeet Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Aravelly Avanish, Sameer Rizvi, Mukesh Choudhary, Richard Gleeson, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, RS Hangargekar, Nishant Sindhu, Maheesh Theekshana.
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