Indian cricket legend and former head coach Ravi Shastri has expressed his belief that Rohit Sharma, captain of the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL), is facing greater challenges as a result of changes in the team's personnel. Shastri pointed out that the addition of two new teams to the IPL ahead of the 2022 season meant that key players, such as Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya, left Mumbai Indians to join other teams. Additionally, players like Lasith Malinga and Kieron Pollard retired from IPL. The loss of these players has impacted the team's resources and the captaincy has become a more difficult task, according to Shastri.
Furthermore, Jofra Archer was unavailable for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022 due to injuries, and Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out this year due to a long-standing back injury, which has further increased the challenges for Rohit Sharma as a captain.
Shastri highlighted that motivating the team and creating a good combination is the key to success, and Rohit's recent lean run with the bat has also affected his captaincy. In IPL 2022, Rohit scored 268 runs without a single fifty, averaging 19.14 with a strike rate of 120.17. In IPL 2023, Rohit has scored just 184 runs in ten innings, with an average of 18.39 and a strike rate of 126.89.
Shastri emphasized that the job of the captain becomes much easier when he is in form with the bat. Mumbai Indians, who finished last on the points table with just four wins in the league stage, are currently at sixth place on the points table. The team's next match will be against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.