Even though Rohit Sharma is embracing a lean patch as a batter in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, record-time winners Mumbai Indians (MI) have sparked a sensational turnaround in the league stage of the cash-rich tournament. Rohit, who capped off his worst-ever season in the IPL last season, has only extended his woeful run in the celebrated tournament this year.
Rohit was dismissed for cheap in MI's blockbuster meeting with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) although the hosts registered a comfortable 6-wicket win over the visitors at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday. The senior Indian batter has only scored a single half-century in the 2023 edition of the IPL.
At a time when Rohit is struggling to score runs for Mumbai Indians, former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull has issued an interesting statement about the dip in the form of the India captain in domestic cricket's biggest extravaganza. The popular commentator and cricket pundit has explained why Mumbai can keep an out-of-form Rohit in their playing XI for the remainder of the season.
Sharing his views on Cricbuzz, Doull gave former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson a special mention while explaining the Rohit conundrum at MI this season. "When a team keeps winning without a player scoring runs, they can still continue to trust that player. This is what CSK did with Watson (in 2018). They carried him through the tournament and he repaid the faith in the final," Doull said. "Loved the way Ishan went about hitting in the powerplay. But it's just not working for Rohit. Now what happens if Tilak Varma is fit? You can't drop Nehal Wadhera now," he added.
{{/usCountry}}Sharing his views on Cricbuzz, Doull gave former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson a special mention while explaining the Rohit conundrum at MI this season. "When a team keeps winning without a player scoring runs, they can still continue to trust that player. This is what CSK did with Watson (in 2018). They carried him through the tournament and he repaid the faith in the final," Doull said. "Loved the way Ishan went about hitting in the powerplay. But it's just not working for Rohit. Now what happens if Tilak Varma is fit? You can't drop Nehal Wadhera now," he added.
{{/usCountry}}While Rohit was dismissed for 7 off 8 balls, premier batter Suryakumar Yadav regained top form as the MI star played a match-winning knock against RCB at Wankhede. Suryakumar's sensational knock of 83 off 35 balls powered Rohit's MI to a convincing win over Bangalore. With the win, MI have taken the third spot in the IPL 2023 standings. "It has been a season of two halves for him (SKY). The last four-five games that he has had have been just unbelievable. All the sixes were great, but the way he waited on a slower delivery outside off stump and timed it through point, shows that he has the game to wait, assess and still play the shot," Doull concluded.