Great to have back-to-back wins

As the second week of the Indian Premier League begins, it's good to have two back-to-back wins at the start itself. I had mentioned that it was important for us to get off to a good start, and that is exactly what has happened. Off the field too, the bonding within the team has been good, and whatever spare time we get, we use it to get to know each other a little better.

I love riding on my motor bike around Chennai, and every day, I one of my team mates rides pillion to the ground for practice. I often ride around the city at night as well, and it's really very relaxing as the city is quieter and cooler at that time. My Tamil dictionary has not increased beyond ille, thambi and anna, but I will try a little harder in the coming weeks.

For someone who has grown up watching a lot of Bollywood fare – in fact, I would like to catch a couple of new Hindi film releases this weekend -- seeing the glamour and glitz of the south is quite an eye-opener. They are as talented and versatile as their Bollywood counterparts and Vijay, the young superstar of Chennai, who is one of the team's supporters, is a really nice, down-to-earth guy. I was also very happy to see Sivamani getting the crowd on their feet. He is a very talented musician, and added to the atmosphere during our tense encounter with the Mumbai Indians.

That game was one of the most exciting games so far, but fortunately and expectedly, Joginder Sharma held his nerve in the last over. Like in the T20 World Cup semi-finals and finals, I held him back so that there was a bigger target in the final over, and once again he did the job.

It has become clear that one of the huge factors in games at the Chepauk Stadium will be the dew. Spinners will find bowling in the evening very tough, and even Muralitharan was having a tough time gripping the ball. Our bowling is a little less experienced than our batting, which is why I prefer batting first even if it means that we will have to contend with the dew later in the evening. It's important that we know our strengths and weaknesses, and our strength is the quality of batting we have at the top of the order. However, this does not mean that our bowling lacks quality, In fact, we do have a promising bowler in MS Goni, whose height helps him to get a lot of bounce off the wicket. So far, we have put imposing totals up on the board which our bowlers have succeeded in defending.

Tomorrow's game pits the two teams with all-win records against each other. The battle that could decide the result of the encounter is between the pace bowlers of the Knight Riders and our top order. If Hayden takes on Ishant Sharma and company, we will do well. It's a 4 p.m. start, so the heat will be intense. The team bowling second will get some assistance at the start but soon enough the dew will make batting easier. There is some swing and movement till 6 p.m. in the evening, after which the dew starts falling.

The Super Kings are looking forward to this encounter, and we will have to overcome both the conditions as well as the opposition if we are to do well. (Gameplan)