IPL 2022: 'Not concerned about Rohit's form' - MI coach Jayawardena; opines on impact of Archer's absence

Mumbai Indians have lost all five of their matches thus far in IPL 2022.

By Rashmi Nanda - 14 Apr, 2022

The Mumbai Indians (MI) came very close to their first victory in the ongoing IPL 2022, but they failed to finish off the match, suffering a 12-run defeat against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the 23rd match of the tournament on Wednesday (April 13) at the MCA Stadium in Pune.

Well, apart from the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) struggle, Rohit Sharma is also struggling for runs, as the MI skipper could manage only 108 runs in his 5 innings so far in the ongoing IPL 2022.

Reacting to the India captain’s struggle with the bat, the MI head coach, Mahela Jayawardena, said that it's just a "matter of time" before Rohit Sharma plays a big knock, something which the MI desperately needs to make a comeback in the ongoing IPL 2022 after five straight defeats.

MI coach Mahela Jayawardena after the match: “If you look at the way he starts, the way he hits the ball, it's brilliant. He's timing it, he's getting some really, really good starts. Yes, he's disappointed as well, that he's not being able to convert them.”

The coach added, “We've seen Rohit batting deep, batting for 14-15 overs and getting those big scores. It's just a matter of time. He's a quality player and I am not concerned about the form as such.”

Read Also: IPL 2022: WATCH - Kieron Pollard motivates Suryakumar Yadav after bad mix-up resulted in a run out

Speaking about MI’s batting against the PBKS while chasing 199, the 44-year-old noted: “Today was to try and take the game deep because we were playing with six batters. And there's no better person than Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) to finish a game off.”

The MI coach further explained, “In the powerplay, they would swing the ball a bit and all that. So I didn't want Surya to go into that situation and not be able to play his natural game also. It was just a tactical thing.  The two young guys (Dewald Brevis and Tilak Varma), we know what they are capable of.

So give them a bit of freedom to go and control that situation, so that Polly (Kieron Pollard) and Surya are able to chase that. That was the initial thinking. It's a call that we will take depending on how we've set up tactically against certain opposition.”

Meanwhile, Jayawardena admitted that Jofra Archer's absence is hurting MI in the ongoing IPL 2022, as the bowling unit has not been able to sustain the pressure on the opposition so far.

The MI head coach further explained, “Obviously, one of the best bowlers that we've bought in the auction is Jof (Jofra Archer) - Jof is not here. So it is tough when you are in that kind of situation, but we are trying to see how best we can manage. In terms of the last four-five games, we've had some really good spells, we controlled things for a while.”

He concluded, “But we cannot hold that pressure going on, because in certain times, it's either two or three overs that we go big and that has hurt us. So that's something that we really have to nail down and make sure that our execution is better in those situations.”

(With PTI Inputs)

By Rashmi Nanda - 14 Apr, 2022

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