As Delhi Capitals prepare to face Rajasthan Royals in their sixth game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, all-rounder Harshal Patel has stated that his team's focus is always on execution regardless of whom they face.
Delhi Capitals have registered four wins out of the five games they have played so far and are sitting pretty at the second spot in the points table.
"I think every team in the IPL is extremely competitive and that's why the quality of cricket is unparalleled. So when it comes to players like Jos Buttler, Steve Smith or (Sanju) Samson, you just have to focus on executing your skill. You do the planning in your team meetings and when you get onto the field - it's all about execution," said Harshal on Thursday.
Commenting on what his team’s focus has been on improving ahead of their clash against Rajasthan, a team languishing at the bottom of the table, Harshal said they want to ensure that small mistakes are closed out.
"We're just talking about how we can get better - even though the last game we put on quite a clinical performance but the conversation has always been around what else we can do to get better, what else we can do to close out the small mistakes that we're making," the all-rounder said.
"We just want to get better as the tournament progresses. Everyone who's been around in the IPL knows that the second half of IPL is one of the most difficult parts of the tournament. So we don't want to get complacent, we don't want to relax - we just want to keep our focus and try to get better by putting in the efforts," he added.
Having been part of a high-scoring encounter at the Sharjah Cricket Ground already, Harshal reckoned the margin for error will again be very little on Friday against the Steve Smith-led side.
"Whenever you're playing in a high-scoring game, you just have to be on top of your game all 24 balls that you bowl. The margin for error is very little, and at the same time you know that it's going to be a high-scoring game - so it does take a little bit of pressure off of you, because you know everybody's going to go for runs," he said.
"So you can be a little more relaxed in terms of your approach towards the game and just focus on executing whatever the batsman does - if he hits you off a good length, then you just have to accept that and move on," added the 29-year-old.
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