Parthiv Patel loves the challenge of opening the innings

HYDERABAD: Parthiv Patel has been one of the most consistent top order batsmen for Mumbai Indians. The wicketkeeper-opener has been able to give his side the early momentum in most of the games. But is there pressure opening the innings?
"There is always pressure when you play in the first six overs. You have to take chances and you have to make sure that you don't get out also.First six overs are always the most difficult overs to bat," the 32-year-old southpaw said.
"But that's how I have been batting since the last 10 years. I enjoy batting in the first six overs. First six overs usually set up the game as they are the most important part of the innings. There is a lot of responsibility when you are opening the innings. There is pressure because you have to make sure that you hit boundaries, rotate the strike and not get out. That's a kind of pressure but I enjoy it."
With their place in the playoffs assured, Parthiv seemed unperturbed with the loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad. "Obviously it was never a 180-190 wicket. We knew that around 160 would be a defendable total on this wicket. We got around 140 and took the game to the penultimate over. They tried to finish it off earlier but were unable to," he said.
"This kind of day can happen. We have been playing very good cricket throughout the tournament. It's good to have this kind of a day, out of the way before the play-offs," he added.
What was the rationale behind batting first? Was it to test the batting? "I don't think we needed to test our batting. I thought we batted brilliantly right through the tournament. Even in Delhi we did well on a difficult wicket. So it was never a question of testing our batting but we felt that on this wicket if we could get 160 then we could have had a fight on. Every top order batsman has got runs under his belt so it was not about testing our batting," he said.
Parthiv was gung-ho about the final being held at the RGIC Stadium. "It is a wonderful ground to have the finals. The atmosphere even today was fantastic. The pitch depends on the day. I know it was on the slower side but some in some games 200 has been scored and some games its 170 or so. On the whole, it's a good wicket and ground. A good venue to play the final and I know there never has been a final played here and I am sure the Hyderabad fans will love to see the final here," he added.