The defending IPL champions did not get their campaign to a great re-start as captain Rohit Sharma missed the match against Chennai Super Kings as precautionary measure after complaining of a knee niggle.
Sharma, who scored a magnificent century in the fourth Test against England at the Oval, did not field in the fourth innings. Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene stated while speaking in an interview during the match that Rohit needed a bit more rest.
“Rohit had something going in the last Test (Oval), so we thought of a couple of days of extra precaution,”
he said.
Kieron Pollard, who took over the captaincy, said:
“Rohit is okay, he’ll be fine sooner rather than later, I’m just the captain for today.”
Trinidad and Tobago international received some criticism for making several poor moves in the match and letting CSK get back into the game after MI were in a commanding position. Trent Boult, Adam Milne had effectively reduced the Kings to 24/5 after six overs.
But Ruturaj Gaikwad’s sublime knock of 88* off 58 and a timely cameo of 8-ball-23 from Dwayne Bravo took CSK to a fighting total of 156/6. The Indians kept giving wickets at regular intervals and eventually lost the game by 20 runs as the batting unit failed collectively. The absence of Rohit and Hardik proved to be costly in the end.
The five-time champions were also without the services of Hardik Pandya in the match against Chennai.
“Hardik Pandya had a niggle, nothing serious, it’s just a precaution and Rohit Sharma was batting, fielding but coming from the UK we thought he needed extra rest, will be fit for next match”,
Jayawardene said to the press.
Mumbai Indians’ next game will be against Kolkata Knight Riders on September 23 in Abu Dhabi. They will need both their key players back, with four wins needed out of the remaining six to qualify for the playoffs.
