Mumbai skipper Rohit exudes confidence ahead of must-win Lions game

It may have got tricky for Mumbai Indians after one defeat and a washout, but skipper Rohit Sharma is still very optimistic about his side's prospects in the Champions League Twenty20.

Needing a win to keep their hopes alive after collecting just two points, Mumbai will take on Highveld Lions in their third group 'A' league match at Sawai Man Singh Stadium on Friday.

"In this format you get only four games and with one lost and other washed out we know the position we are in. We understand what needs to be done. We are raring to go and have to win both of our remaining matches. But we don't want to take pressure and want to do what needs to be done," Rohit said.

Rohit felt their performance against Rajasthan Royals, to whom they lost, was "not bad".

"Every match is important and so is this one. We have the players and I don't think our performance in against Rajasthan Royals was bad. It was just a matter of few more runs. Had we made 15-20 more the story of that match could have been different," said the Indian batsman, defending his team's seven-wicket loss.

The right-hander was well aware of Lions' decent bowling unit.

"Lions do have a decent attack with the likes of (Lonwabo) Tsotsobe, (Sohail) Tanveer and (Imran) Tahir but I was watching the match in which Royals posted 180 plus. Moreover we would like to focus more on our strengths and what we have to do."

Refusing to concede that the Jaipur pitch was more in favour of the lions, Rohit said, "We are playing in India and not in South Africa. We are more accustomed to such pitches. In Mumbai too we have bouncy wickets which assist bowlers like the Jaipur wicket. We are used to playing on such wickets so there is no advantage to Lions on this count."

"We were unfortunate that because of rains in Ahmedabad we could not practice for 3-4 days and our match was also washed out. I am happy that at least in Jaipur we had a good practice session. There are no injury worries and we are raring to go."