The five-time IPL champions, Mumbai Indians, are currently having a torment of a time in the ongoing edition. Losing all their five consecutive matches, Mumbai Indians winning ways seems to get a vague turn. Though the team possesses a decent squad, it fails in execution.
Former Indian batter and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar believes that the captain of Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma, would pass on the captaincy baton so that he can focus on improving his batting. It is just like how Virat Kohli has done it for this edition.
“I feel Pollard still adds value.” Sanjay Manjrekar
The Veteran Indian batter believes that Rohit Sharma might stay away from his captaincy timeline and give it to an experienced player from the Mumbai Indians. Manjrekar believes that Kieron Pollard can be the best captain if Rohit Sharma passes on the captaincy baton. He had stated,
“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. 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,” Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.
“If he plays freely, we’ll see the Rohit Sharma we see in Indian cricket,” Manjrekar added.
Manjrekar believes that his batting approach can change the team’s losing streak in the edition. He feels that he must play freely and bring up his game. He had stated,
“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 match. If he plays freely, we’ll see the Rohit Sharma we see in Indian cricket”
