Mumbai, April 22 (IANS) New Zealand’s T20I captain and Mumbai Indians (MI) spinner Mitchell Santner has admitted that despite the franchise registering a big win against Gujarat Titans (GT) their is a lot of room for improvement as they gear up to face arc rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 32nd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the iconic Wankhede Stadium.

Hardik Pandya-led team is coming to the contest after a dominating 99-run win against GT, which came after a string of defeats. According to the New Zealand player, the win has given confidence to the players who will back each other to perform well against CSK.

“The energy was good as we put on a great show against a very good team. We play CSK now, and we know there is a lot of work to do. This was a good start after a few losses. The camp is in good spirits, and the previous victory was a good team performance, which was good to see,” Santner said in a statement released by the franchise.

“It is all about the belief and trust factor. Everyone backs each other. Everything went well in the last game. Everyone will be out there against CSK, going about their respective roles. During the previous contest, Ashwani (Kumar) and Krish (Bhagat) bowled very well, and we all trusted and backed them at every stage,” He added.

Santner also revealed how the team environment helped players to perform to their best and end the losing momentum to register a big win.

“This group is very experienced and a great one indeed. The message remained the same all through: give everything for the team, and things will click. During the last match against the Titans, once Boom got that first wicket, we all got that belief back. We put on a clinical show from there, which was nice,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Indians (MI) are currently placed at seventh position in the points table with four points in six games.

–IANS

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