MI captain Rohit Sharma is currently struggling to get his team open their account in IPL 2022.
But what must be equally bothering him is his own form. Rohit has failed in all innings in IPL 2022 and one cannot remember what was the last blisering knock from his willow that helped MI win.
Mumbai, meanwhile, faced a fifth-successive loss as they remain the only winless side in the season.
The former cricketer’s comments came during an interaction with ESPNcricinfo on Tuesday. He was asked about Kieron Pollard’s lowly returns – 47 runs from four innings – in the season so far.
Manjrekar said the West Indian “still adds value” to the MI setup, revealing that he had even envisaged a leadership role for him.
“I feel Pollard still adds value. [Before the season] I even felt Rohit Sharma might leave captaincy like Virat Kohli, relax a bit, play as a pure batter and hand the responsibility to Pollard who is a brilliant international captain.” He said:
Within a couple of months, Kohli either stepped down or was sacked from the captaincy of all three formats for India and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He now plays as a pure batter, with Faf du Plessis handling the reins of the latter.
Rohit, who has won the IPL title five times, is currently overseeing one of the most difficult phases for MI. The team has lost four matches on the trot and the lack of depth in the squad means any solution seems a far cry..
Pollard could be a source of inspiration, but Manjrekar feels that despite his record on paper, the all-rounder is “doing his usual job” and is waiting for a “crunch game” to bring out his best. He explained:
“Pollard still has the capability, I can see that from the sixes he hits. He’ll contribute in the pressure match, the crunch game. But they need to reach there first and that’s not on Pollard, it never has been.
He’s never contributed throughout the season for Mumbai Indians. He plays one innings in a pressure game and sees the team through. Others need to work better because Pollard is doing his usual job.”
Speaking on Rohit’s batting, Manjrekar said the opener needs to be a little selfish and play more “freely” like he does for India. He said:
“His record has been like this for the last 3-4 seasons, average less than 30, strike-rate not 150 or 160. When he plays for India his numbers get better… because then he only thinks about himself and less about the team.
When playing IPL, he tries to play the anchor role similar to what KL Rahul did with Punjab Kings and Hardik Pandya did in the last matc. If he plays freely, we’ll see the Rohit Sharma we see in Indian cricket.”
Rohit has scored just 108 runs from four matches so far His struggles epitomize a batting lineup caught between trying to bat more responsibly, which would support an inexperienced bowling attack, and playing its naturally aggressive game.