IPL 2022 | Top-order woes continue to haunt Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians

Top-order woes continue to haunt Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians. But the Paltans’ head coach, Mahela Jayawardene, does not seem to be too concerned with the dry run of the skipper and the southpaw, Ishan Kishan.

Mumbai slumped to their seventh defeat on the trot in the IPL. Squaring off against their arch-rivals, Chennai Super Kings, the Rohit Sharma-led side got outclassed by a vintage Dhoni finish. 

Besides the former CSK captain’s enterprising innings, the foundation of CSK’s victory had been laid by young Mukesh Choudhary. The left-arm pacer had the MI captain caught meekly at mid-on on nought. Besides Rohit, Choudhary’s swing bowling duped Kishan, who returned to the pavilion without opening his account. 

The openers’ prolonged lean patch is hurting the team’s chances. However, the Sri Lankan legend feels that it is too early to press the panic button. 

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Jayawardene said, “It's been a bit up and down, to be honest. Ishan batted really well in the first couple of games. And then a bit of a slide. Ro has been hitting the ball really well, he gets good starts. 15-20 runs, he looks good, and then he has not been able to convert.”

The Sri Lankan legend reflected on his playing days and spoke about how a dry run affects a batter. He opined that getting dismissed early was a part and parcel of the game. With Rohit and Kishan hitting the ball well in the nets, it is only a matter of time before they will find form. Hence, it was essential to back them in their rough patch.

“You know I will be concerned when they are not hitting the ball well or if they don't have the confidence, but both of them have been batting well out there and in the nets.”

Ishan Kishan, who was bought back by Mumbai for a whopping INR 15.25 crore, has performed underwhelmingly this season. Even after successive fifties in the first two games, the wicketkeeper has 191 runs after seven matches. 

Captain Rohit averages a poor 16.29 in this edition. Against CSK, he got out on a record 14th duck, the most by any IPL batter. The five-time IPL champions would want the duo to find their mojo back.