Five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) are getting reach to take Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday in a return fixture of the IPL 2023. RCB had thrashed MI by eight wickets in the earlier IPL 2023 fixture back in Bengaluru. One major area of concern for the home side is the form of their skipper Rohit Sharma with the bat.
In 10 matches in IPL 2023 he has played so far, Rohit has scored a mere 184 runs at 18.39 with only one half-century. Mumbai Indians all-rounder Cameron Green on Monday brushed aside concerns about the form of team captain Rohit Sharma, who has been enduring a tough Indian Premier League season with the bat.
“Absolutely not,” Green told reporters when asked if there have been any discussions on Rohit’s form in the MI camp. “A legend that Rohit is, especially with Mumbai and everything that he has done in his career, we actually back him. He could come back into the form any time. He has batted beautifully in a few games, showing really good tempo at the top, so we are absolutely backing him.”
Green, who replaced Rohit as opener against Chennai Super Kings, said he was happy to bat at any position for his side. “Absolutely happy playing the role that the captain thinks is best for the team. I am absolutely loving my time with Mumbai here and I’m happy to bat anywhere,” Green said in the pre-match press conference.
Cameron Green said "Rohit Sharma is a legend, he could come back into form anytime, batted beautifully in the few games & showing good tempo so we are absolutely backing him". pic.twitter.com/FxTrHbsSh2
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) May 9, 2023
With the Indian Premier League entering its final leg of the group stage, Cameron Green said that Mumbai Indians will look to take the learnings from their first ten matches and break into the top four as they return to their fortress: the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
“Everything we learnt in the first ten games is hopefully going to hold in good stead in the remaining games. If you win a game, you can go up to second and if you lose, you could go to second last. We just have to put our best performance. We know we have an incredible team and we are going to just back our strengths,” the Australian all-rounder said.
In their last match at home, MI recorded the highest ever successful chase at the Wankhede. The team’s bowling group had discussed strategies for what can sometimes be a very flat wicket and will be better prepared in the upcoming games.
“We know how good the Wankhede wicket can get sometimes. It can be ruthless for bowlers sometimes, so it is important to back our strengths. We know we have got some world class bowlers in our team and we are going to back them all the way,” Green said.
With a deep batting line up, MI have come out all guns blazing in the Powerplay and Green backed the team to take the same approach for the rest of the tournament. “Our discussions have been to play the same way. Being aggressive in the Powerplay is something that might come off sometimes and not come off at other times. The clear messaging from the coaching staff has been to show intent. We have got some incredibly experienced guys in the top order around me in the form of Ishan, Rohit and Sky (Suryakumar Yadav),” Green added.
