It is usually rare to see Mumbai Indians struggling and even more rare to see their leader Rohit Sharma fail to fire big with the bat in the Indian Premier League. However, this has been the story so far in the ongoing edition of the IPL as both the five-time champions and their captain are finding it difficult to get back the rhythm.
Looking at the dip in Rohit's form, former South Africa captain Graeme Smith feels it is due to the “mental strain” of leading the national side in all the three formats.
"This is the first tournament he is captaining MI since becoming India's white-ball captain. Does that mental strain take a toll in the IPL? It's something to consider," Smith was quoted as saying by 'Cricket.com'.
Rohit was handed leadership duties in the shortest format after Virat Kohli decided to step down from the position post the T20 World Cup. Soon he was also appointed as the captain in the 50-over format and on February he took the leadership role in the traditional format of the game.
"Rohit is the energy at the top of the order. Gets them off to a start, sets up the game that allows everyone else to play. When he is scoring runs MI are going to win a lot of the time."
{{/usCountry}}"Rohit is the energy at the top of the order. Gets them off to a start, sets up the game that allows everyone else to play. When he is scoring runs MI are going to win a lot of the time."
{{/usCountry}}The former Proteas batter believes Rohit regaining his lost touch will make things easier for Mumbai.
"He's just such a key player. If you look at the line-up, Rohit, an outstanding player, hasn't found form. You've got Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav injured for a couple of games. He has now come in and is looking good and then Pollard as the power finisher. You've got Brevis there but he's a young man. That's a very strong batting line-up."