Not concerned at all about Rohit’s batting form: MI coach Mahela Jayawardene: Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mahela Jayawardene says he is not at all concerned about skipper Rohit Sharma’s batting form in the ongoing edition of the Tata Indian Premier League. He reckons that it’s just a “matter of time” before Rohit gets the big knock for the team, which they desperately need right now.
The MI skipper has got starts in nearly all the IPL 2022 matches so far, however, he has failed to capitalise on them. Out of five innings in IPL 2022, Rohit has crossed 20 runs marks on three occasions at a brisk strike rate.
“He’s a quality player and I am not concerned about the form as such,” said Mahela Jayawardene after his side’s 12 runs defeat against Punjab Kings, last night.
He further added that Rohit is timing the ball beautifully and getting good starts, but failing to convert them to big scores.
“If you look at the way he starts, the way he hits the ball, it’s brilliant. He’s timing it, he’s getting some really, really good starts. Yes, he’s disappointed as well, that he’s not being able to convert them,” Jayawardene said.
“We’ve seen Rohit batting deep, batting for 14-15 overs and getting those big scores. It’s just a matter of time.”
The five times IPL champions suffered their fifth defeat of the season against Punjab Kings. Mumbai fell 12 runs short of the total in the Maharashtra Cricket Association International Stadium Pune and lost the game.
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Rohit opted to go with a combination of six specialist batters and five bowlers, which didn’t produce the required result. The likes of Dewald Bravis, Tilak Verma, and Suryakumar Yadav took the game deep, but couldn’t get over the line.
“Today was to try and take the game deep because we were playing with six batters. And there’s no better person than Surya to finish a game off,” Jayawardene said.
“In the powerplay, they would swing the ball a bit and all that. So I didn’t want Surya to go into that situation and not be able to play his natural game also. It was just a tactical thing.”
Couple of overs in the middle are hurting us: Mahela Jayawardene
The former Sri Lankan batter also explained how things aren’t going as per the plans of Mumbai Indians.
“In terms of the last four-five games, we’ve had some really good spells, we controlled things for a while. But we cannot hold that pressure going on, because in certain times, it’s either two or three overs that we go big and that has hurt us.
“So that’s something that we really have to nail down and make sure that our execution is better in those situations.”
With five defeats on the trot, Mumbai Indians are on the verge of elimination from the Tata IPL 2022. Though it is too early to predict anything, however, with the tournament getting 10 teams, it will be pretty tough for the Men in Blue and Gold to make a comeback from here on and compete with the teams who have already secured three-four wins.
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