Mumbai Indians (MI) have over the years used different opening combinations and in the last season, Rohit Sharma had opened the batting alongside South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock. But this year, with de Kock gone, MI will have a relatively new opening combination. Skipper Rohit Sharma has finally revealed who will come out to bat alongside him in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.
“I will open the batting. I have been doing that in the past so I’m looking forward to open with Ishan Kishan,” said Rohit during a virtual press conference.
Kishan, while used mostly as a middle-order batter in the past, has occasionally opened for MI when one of their first-choice players were out injured.
When head coach Mahela Jayawardene was asked to give his take on the pair of Rohit-Ishan, the former Sri Lanka captain said: “I think Rohit and Ishan is a good combination up top and Ishan is also a wicketkeeper, and there are very few who can bat in the top-three.”
Rohit Sharma while giving his opinion on the new-look bowling attack of the franchise, said: “Tymal Mills, Jaydev Unadkat are new to the franchise, but they are not new to the game. They have played the game for a number of years now and they know what needs to be done. It’s just that our role will be critical as to how we give them the understanding of what they need to do for us as a team.”
“They have played for different franchises and countries, where they had different roles. For us, that will be a challenge and we are working with these guys. We are trying to give them a role clarity as to what we are expecting from them and what sort of role they need to play here,” he further stated.
Ahead of the mega auction, Mumbai Indians retained Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard and Suryakumar Yadav.
Promoted
The IPL 2022 will begin on March 26 but Mumbai Indians will play their first match on March 27 against the Delhi Capitals.
Mumbai Indians Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Basil Thampi, Murugan Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, N Tilak Varma, Sanjay Yadav, Jofra Archer, Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills, Tim David, Riley Meredith, Mohd Arshad Khan, Anmolpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Aryan Juyal, Fabian Allen.
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