IPL 2020: Mumbai Indians not thinking about playoffs yet: Quinton de Kock

Kolkata Knight Riders, under the new leadership of Eoin Morgan, suffered a crushing eight-wicket defeat to Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi on Friday but wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock has said that the Mumbai outfit is still not thinking about playoffs and are taking it one game at a time.

"We did not plan much before this game, we know what are our strengths, it is a matter of doing what we have been doing, in our team we have a lot of experience and it is a matter of just doing the things on the field," said de Kock during the post-match press conference.

"The preparations for playoffs have not started yet, it is about taking one game at a time, whatever happens, we have to keep it simple and we need to play to our strengths. Whether we qualify for the playoffs or not, that is not in our hands but playing good cricket is something we can control," he added.

KKR, batting first, posted a score of 148/5 in 20 overs after Pat Cummins and Eoin Morgan scored 53 and 39 respectively after finding themselves at 61/5 at one stage. Rahul Chahar made a massive impact by dismissing Shubman Gill and Dinesh Karthik in consecutive deliveries.

"I think the process is that we have backed Rahul Chahar. He backs himself too and that is a key in a player. He knows his talent and he knows if he has a bad game, he will come back stronger and we know that too. As a player, we can just back other players," de Kock said.

"We like to play simple cricket, we have a great bunch of players, guys understand that they do not think too far ahead. To be honest, we do not really talk about the wicket, we like to assess things and rather be proactive and deal with what we have in front of ourselves," he added.

KKR will next lock horns with SunRisers Hyderabad on October 18 while Mumbai Indians will face Kings XI Punjab on the same day.