In order to be in a peak physical condition for the demand of competitive cricket, Rohit Sharma had to do a lot of maintenance work on his lower body and hamstring, the Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper revealed on Tuesday (April 13).
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Notably, Rohit had sustained a hamstring injury during the last year’s IPL in UAE, which ruled him out of some part of the T20 league and the white-ball leg of the Australia tour.
“Maintaining what I have built up in the last three or four months. Obviously I was injured during the last IPL. So there’s a lot of maintenance work that I have to keep doing just to maintain my lower body, hamstring and stuff like that,” Sharma said in ‘Captain’s Corner’, a video posted by MI on Twitter on Tuesday (April 13).
Speaking about the hard work put in by the players who participated in a fitness session ahead of Mumbai’s second game in the IPL 2021, Rohit said they take a lot of pride in that.
“Exactly that is something we take a lot of pride in. We want to keep putting that effort whether we win the game, lose the game, it doesn’t matter. For us, what matters is the preparation.
“It is great to see some of the fast bowlers who played in yesterday’s game come out and do the fitness drills, which is always nice. That’s what MI always takes pride in. Putting that extra yard in, that’s why we get the results in our favour,” he said.
Further speaking on team bonding, Rohit said MI players do most things together.
“A lot of players getting involved in whatever it is. Whether it is going outside and playing a game, whether it is doing fitness, whether it is attending meetings. We try and do that with a group of players.
“There is a lot of interaction especially about the game that is played or the game that is about to come. Just to keep that bonding going.
“Every year we see new faces and staff coming in to the squad, we want everyone to get adjusted to MI culture. It is important to have that togetherness. We have maintained that and we will continue to do that,” the captain said.
Giving a sneak peek into their training sessions, the MI captain said they want to catch up and strategise with home advantage on offer this season.
“We just wanted to catch up, no home advantage this year. We are playing in different venues. We need to strategise, what sort of game plan to have. We all know as individuals, what is expected.
“Through the course of our training session today we will have chat individually. We will see what one needs to get out of these practice sessions.
“We have set some standards in this tournament. I would like us to continue to do that. And how we lead up to those games will be very critical,” he said.
Rohit, who featured in his 200th IPL game on April 9, said: “That’s a good milestone. I hope I can double that up by playing another 200 (laughs).”
(With PTI inputs)
