Much was anticipated from Mumbai Indians star Rohit Sharma as he returned to the squad after sitting out the last Indian Premier League (IPL) match because of an injury. Rohit, who has been playing as an Impact Substitute from the bench throughout the campaign, continued his lackluster performance, managing a mere 17 runs off 9 balls before being bowled by Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacer Yash Dayal. When questioned about MI’s struggles at the top of the order and Rohit Sharma’s loss, coach Mahela Jayawardene did not dance around the issue.
Jayawardene Acknowledges Powerplay Struggles for MI
The Mumbai Indians head coach acknowledged that the team is not doing well in the powerplays, both in batting and bowling perspective currently.
“The powerplay is a concern for us with the ball and the bat. In the last few games as well, we were leaking too many runs with the ball in the powerplay as well. We got an early wicket today as well – first over – but then they counter-punched, played some good shots, and we just did not react well to that. These are the margins and then they had a big sixth over, which really hurt us in that powerplay,” Jayawardene narrated in the post-match press conference.
Rohit’s Struggles Against Left-Arm Pacers Continue
After IPL 2024, Rohit has been struggling a lot with left-arm pacers in the IPL. It has been a fact that he has been dismissed the most number of times by left-arm pacers in this time frame. Statistically, the Hitman has been dismissed seven out of the 17 innings against left-arm seamers.
Mumbai Indians Coach Defends Rohit, Credits Yash Dayal
Jayawardene, upon being questioned about worry over Rohit’s dismissal and the failure to score runs, chose to give more credit to Dayal for the ball he bowled.
“Obviously for right-handed batsman left armers, it is a natural thing for a lot of opening batsman and a lot of the right-handed batsman. It’s been there for many years, I can remember many teams doing the same thing, so it’s just a natural angle and then creating that space. But yeah, I’m sure Rohit’s been working on it, he’s been practicing hard and he’s a very experienced player,” said Jayawardene.
“I’m sure that’s not the thing, he was trying to give us a good start and he played some really good shots. Yash bowled a good ball, it was late swing and fuller got through Rohit’s defence. So I think when you have played the game for that long, I think you need to sometimes keep to the bowlers as well. I wouldn’t read into that too much, but yeah, I mean it’s something that I’m sure that he will work hard on it,” the Sri Lanka great asserted.
