Former South Africa skipper Graeme Smith feels the "mental strain" of leading the Indian team across formats may be taking a toll on Rohit Sharma in the ongoing IPL 2022. This comes after the five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians lost their first four matches of the ongoing tournament.
Rohit Sharma came into the IPL 2022 after leading the Indian team to series wins over West Indies and Sri Lanka across formats. Rohit took over as the T20I and ODI captain of India after the T20 World Cup 2021 and was appointed the Test captain in February.
His batting has been nothing to write about in the IPL 2022 as the MI opener has failed to show the flow that he is normally known for. He has managed to score just 80 runs at an average of 20.
"This is the first tournament he is captaining MI since becoming India's white-ball captain. Does that mental strain take a toll in the IPL? It's something to consider. Rohit is the energy at the top of the order. Gets them off to a start, sets up the game that allows everyone else to play. When he is scoring runs MI are going to win a lot of the time,” Smith was quoted as saying by Cricket.com.
Smith said Rohit regaining his touch with the willow makes things easier for Mumbai Indians.
He said: "He's just such a key player. If you look at the line-up, Rohit, an outstanding player, hasn't found form. You've got Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav injured for a couple of games. He has now come in and is looking good and then Pollard as the power finisher. You've got Brevis there but he's a young man. That's a very strong batting line-up."
The last time MI lost their first four matches in an IPL season was in the 2015 edition, which they ended up winning.
(PTI inputs)
