Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar made a controversial remark on India and Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma after the franchise suffered its fifth straight defeat in the ongoing IPL 2022 on Wednesday (April 13).
Mumbai Indians (MI) suffered a 12-run defeat in the 23rd match of the ongoing IPL 2022 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Wednesday at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
Following the defeat, Manjrekar stated that he had expected Rohit to hand over the captaincy of the MI to all-rounder Kieron Pollard, as Virat Kohli did last year, and is now able to bat freely for the RCB team without the burden of responsibility.
Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo: “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.”
The opener has so far scored just 108 runs in the ongoing IPL 2022.
Speaking about Rohit’s form, Manjrekar noted: “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.”
He further explained, “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. Pollard still has the capability, I can see that from the sixes he hits.”
Manjrekar concluded, “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.”
(With ESPNCricinfo Inputs)
