Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 17 : Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma, who has batted at no. 4 position in this IPL season, has admitted that he misses opening the batting, while saying that it might change in the future as per the team requirement.
During the 2016 IPL season, Rohit, who regularly opens for India in ODIs, opened the innings for Mumbai Indians and scored 489 runs from 14 matches at an average of 44.45 and strike rate of 132.88 including five fifties.
However, the team failed to qualify for the semi-finals in the last edition of the league And one of the major reasons was their inability to finish matches with the bat.
After having a poor run in the initial edition of this IPL season, the Mumbaikar on Sunday smashed 40 off 29 balls to take his team home against Gujarat Lions at the Wankhede.
"It is true that I miss opening the batting. It is something I've enjoyed in the last three-four years. For me, the team comes first. Being a leader, you have to fill whatever the team's requirement is. At this point, batting at No. 3-4 is more suitable," Rohit said in an interview with iplt20.com. "It might change in the future. It gives us the stability. I have batted at No. 4 earlier. It was something that was missing last year. It is a big decision that I've taken and I hope it proves right at the end of the tournament. But whatever the team's requirement is, I have to do it," he added. Rohit's captaincy was one of the highlights in the two games against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Lions, the two teams with most destructive batting lineups.
"I have done a lot of homework about my captaincy. You don't have the same players every year, so your thinking has to change. We do a lot of work behind the scenes. We discuss a lot of match-ups and how we need to come up against a particular opposition. I am really happy that guys are putting their hand up and taking on the responsibility of finishing the game," he said.
The 29-year-old insisted that as captain, he tries to stay ahead of the game. "The captain is as good as his team and without the support and the performance of the players, it is not possible.
A lot of credit goes to my bowlers and the fielders as well. Whatever we have asked from the guys, they've gone out there and delivered. It makes it easier when things fall into place," he said. Mumbai Indians, standing at the top of the table with four wins in five games, travel to Indore to take on Kings XI Punjab on Thursday.
Source: ANI
