IPL 2022: "Now it's time to convert the starts" - Ravi Shastri's message to Rohit Sharma ahead of KKR match
Ravi Shastri has been left impressed with Rohit Sharma's "attitude and intent" but feels it's high time the Mumbai Indians (MI) captain converted his starts into big knocks.
It's been 18 innings since Rohit scored his last IPL half-century. In 10 matches this season, he has got out between 30 and 49 runs thrice and twice between 20 and 29 runs. In the last match against Gujarat Titans (GT), he seemed to have found the perfect balance between attack and anchor, scoring 43 off just 28 balls, but was dismissed while trying to play an arguably needless reverse sweep against Rashid Khan.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Shastri agreed that the knock showed signs of Rohit's eventual full-fledged return to form but said he now needs to convert these starts.
He said:
"Absolutely. What I liked about Rohit in the last game was that his attitude and intent were brilliant from the start. It feels like he's making 30s, 35s, and 40s, now it's time to convert [the starts]."
100% middled by Rohit Sharma after facing 15 balls. https://t.co/7uBOSxrJ9b
Rohit's success has gone hand-in-hand with his opening partner Ishan Kishan. In three of the five matches that the skipper has gone past 20 Ishan has done the same. In other games, he has been dismissed while trying to maintain his aggression after getting off to flying starts. This simply means that Rohit is more likely to succeed when the two openers work in tandem, taking pressure off each other.
The detailed IPL 2022 schedule are available here.
"Mumbai Indians don't have anything to play for in this tournament except pride" - Ravi Shastri
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Offering some impetus to the side after their ouster from the top-four race became official recently, Shastri asked the five-time champions to see this season as a blip in the grand scheme of things and play for pride. The former Team India coach asserted:
"Mumbai Indians don't have anything to play for in this tournament except pride. When a team has won the title five teams, they know that one or two such seasons can also come where nothing has worked for them. Rohit Sharma wasn't in good form, the top-order didn't score as many runs as it should have. They'll want to finish with a bang. [They should think] "We didn't win or qualify but let's play the last three to four games with heart and positivity, and win comfortably."
You can catch the live proceedings of Mumbai's match against Kolkata Knight Riders here, which will begin at 7:30 pm IST on Monday.