"Rohit Sharma's poor form could prove costly for India" - Mohammad Kaif ahead of CSK vs MI in IPL 2022
Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif is concerned about Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma's poor form in the IPL 2022 season. The 35-year-old has scored just 200 runs in 11 games at a modest average of 18.18 and is yet to score a half-century.
Although MI have been knocked out of the race to the IPL 2022 playoffs, Kaif believes it is important for Rohit to find form as the Indian captain will be leading his team into a crucial T20 World Cup campaign later this year.
Speaking to Sportskeeda on the show, 'SK Match ki Baat', Kaif spoke about the controversial decision that went against Rohit Sharma in the match against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Mumbai's previous game. He said:
"Rohit Sharma's form is a huge talking point, especially because he has to captain India in the World Cup in October and his poor form could prove costly for India. But in the last game, it wasn't controversial. He was clearly not out. Rohit was shocked and you can say that all the hard work done by him to find form was undone by the decision."
Kaif also spoke about MI legend Kieron Pollard's woeful run with the bat this season. The 41-year-old feels Pollard is still in Mumbai's long-term plans as he has been a genuine match-winner for them for almost a decade. On this, he said:
"The way Mumbai is sticking to Pollard despite being out of the tournament shows that he is in their future plans. You won't find players like Pollard or Russell who do that work at No.6. Although this season has been bad for him, but he has also performed for you for the last ten years. I don't think Pollard's career is done."
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आपल्या सर्वांचे favourite, Polly 💙
To the man who has always been the heart & soul of #MI, wishing the 𝕃𝕃𝕆ℝ𝔻 a very happy birthday! 🎉🎂
#OneFamily #DilKholKe #MumbaiIndians @KieronPollard55 https://t.co/NLWCqtRvE2
Shoaib Akhtar on MI speedster Jasprit Bumrah's sensational spell against KKR
Another reason for Mumbai's poor season so far was that their star bowler Jasprit Bumrah was unable to pick up many wickets. However, the 28-year-old came into his own in the last game, picking up the best figures in IPL 2022 so far (5/10).
Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has been impressed with the way Bumrah has adapted his game to become a premier bowler across formats. He stated:
"A great bowler remains a great bowler despite poor form. Bumrah is an exceptional talent and has extraordinary skills. I used to think that he isn't a great Test bowler. But he performed in T20s, then ODIs and in Tests too. He did have fitness issues and that's bound to happen with such an action. Only those who have courage can make a comeback and he certainly did."
With Suryakumar Yadav ruled out for the remainder of the season, the likes of Rohit, Pollard and Bumrah will need to step up if MI are to beat CSK tonight.