Follow UsMumbai Indians (MI) opener and former skipper Rohit Sharma’s participation in the much-anticipated clash in Mumbai on April 7 (Monday) against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) is uncertain. Rohit injured his leg while batting and hasn’t been 100% fit since then.
Coach Mahela Jayawardene gave him a status update and informed him that the selection call would be taken after Rohit’s net session on April 6 (Sunday).
“Ro [Rohit] looks good, he's going to bat today as well," Jayawardene said on the eve of the game at the Wankhede Stadium.
"Rohit had an unfortunate impact on his leg while batting so he felt uncomfortable. We were travelling yesterday. He'll have a hit today and then we will do an assessment on that. He had a couple of hits, he's batting well in the nets.”
Jayawardene also sidelined any concerns when asked about Rohit's form. Notably, Rohit has failed to play any innings of note this IPL season, which is affecting the strength of Mumbai’s batting. The team also has won only one of their four games so far.
"If you're telling me every two innings to look at someone's performance, it's a bit unfair,” Jayawardene said on Rohit.
“My memory of his last innings was the Champions Trophy winning knock. So we have to give and back the experienced guys, and them coming to the party.
“We've always, as Mumbai, backed the core group to deliver for us, so we're going to do that. It was unfortunate that he got hit in the nets, and hopefully, he'll be 100%, and that's how we will continue to back the guys to get the results for us.”
Jayawardene also explained the rationale behind retiring Tilak Varma in the last game against Lucknow, where MI lost the chase by 12 runs. The MI head coach reiterated his belief in Varma and remarked that he’ll continue to win games for MI in the future as well.
“The modern age is much more tactical, and we'll keep changing batting line-ups to match up certain bowling line-ups and all that," Jayawardene explained.
"So I don't see how different that is. As a batsman I've had times where you go to bat and struggle to get through and they bowl well to you, it's a combination of that. And he batted very well for us in the last three games, in tough situations like we've lost wickets early, and he built those partnerships and got us to situations that we need to.
“So that's what his role is with that experience that he brings to the game, and I still value that. He was trying and he wasn't able to get going. So I just felt that it was my decision and to throw someone else to get those two hits and Mitch had done that in the last few games, he was in decent form.
“We needed two hits to get to that 15 or 20 runs in that last over. So it had nothing to do with Tilak, and I'm sure he'll walk in here tomorrow and win the match for us. That's who Tilak is for us and there's a lot of value for him.”