: Petersen
Johannesburg, Sept 7: Highveld Lions captain Alviro Peterson exuded confidence that his low profile team will turn out to be giant killers in the second edition of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament.The home team faces Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener and the local captain has send a warning to the opposition saying that his little known boys have what it takes to upstage their star-studded opponents.
“I think all the pressure is on the Mumbai Indians, they are one of the clear favourites. And I like it that way, we can just play our natural game, and I like it when people write us off. No one's expecting anything from us and we showed in last year's Pro20 domestic tournament that all that matters is what we do on the day and what we do as a team. As a team we don't have many big names and on paper we're one of the weakest sides, but you don't play cricket on paper,” Petersen warned.
The home advantage and paradoxically, local crowd pressure are two factors which are not a part of Petersen’s thought process.
“I don’t really think that the pressure of playing at home is on us. We have played well to reach the Champions League Twenty20 and would continue to do so. Yes, we know the conditions better than others but that is just one aspect of the game,” he said.
When asked to comment on facing the mighty Tendulkar-led Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener, Petersen said, “Obviously it is a big game for us, being the opening game and everything, and they obviously have a lot more experience than us. But whether you've played 100 Tests or one provincial game, all that matters is what you bring on the day. We don't care about the opposition. We are a young team and we will play for each other and play as a unit.”
The Highveld Lions have been training hard and trying out different combinations in the nets and warm-up matches. “A major focus of the camp was giving guys game time and working out what our best combinations are. There are guys who can be used in different positions. For example, Neil McKenzie has opened the batting for us, but played in the middle-order for Hampshire and did very well there. I myself am normally an opener, but I played in the middle-order for the Lions last season,” Petersen said.
Meanwhile, paceman Cliffe Deacon said that having the jitters is sometimes beneficial. “Nerves are a funny thing - it's always good to have some heading into a game. Just being totally laidback is not a good thing,” he said.
“We put pressure on ourselves and that gives us confidence to go up against these big names like you get in the Mumbai Indians,” he added.
