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IPL 2020: Rohit Sharma is a big match player but will need to be at his best for MI this season  

Rohit Sharma in action for Mumbai Indians [PC: IPLT20.com]
Rohit Sharma in action for Mumbai Indians [PC: IPLT20.com]

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma is truly a big match player. Be it scoring three double hundreds in ODIs, five centuries in the 2019 World Cup or winning four IPL titles for his franchise, he is always destined for big things.

After his team lost the opening game of IPL 2020 against the Chennai Super Kings, he took it upon himself to lead by example, essaying a blinder against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

With the reputation of being a go-getter, apart from being blessed with lazy elegance while leaning onto those drives on the cover and square of the wicket regions, Rohit is indeed an artist. So much so that even if he is called at night and asked to play those short deliveries, he will be at it in a flash.

Rohit’s 80-run knock off 54 deliveries wasn’t bad by any means. However, from the look of it, he will have to carry this form throughout the tournament to help his team all through IPL 2020.

Rohit Sharma will need to step up for MI in IPL 2020

With the competition increasing in intensity with time and all teams having developed an uncanny ability to beat their opposition, the challenge of having a cake-walk is a thing of the past. With a genuine match-winner like Lasith Malinga who is as impactful as Rohit missing from the action, the latter will have to be in the form of his life to carry the burden of his team.

Believe it or not, when it comes to big matches, it has to be the big players who will have to put their hands up and the rest of the squad will rally behind him. On big days if the big players don’t fire, who will?

Of course, MI have the likes of the promising Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and opener Quinton de Kock, with all these players needing to complement their captain all the time. In addition to that, Rohit will have to come up with those big knocks every now and then to keep MI relevant in the IPL.

With teams like the Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers and Sunrisers Hyderabad showing enough firepower to go all the way, the two-team domination could be under threat if the likes of Rohit and Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni don’t come up with outstanding performances.

Dhoni too should make a note of the fact that 2018 IPL win was made possible because of his decision to come up the order and bat at No.4. Something he wanted to do for India after giving up captaincy in shorter formats of the game. Therefore, coming out to bat at No.7 isn’t the best solution. Leading from the front is what Rohit is doing and Dhoni should follow the suit!

The IPL points table 2020 has been updated check here.

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