'He’s a quality player and I am not concerned about the form': Jayawardene backs Rohit despite 5 straight losses

Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mahela Jayawardene is not worried about skipper Rohit Sharma's form despite him not been able to score big runs. Jayawardene believes that Rohit getting a “big knock” is just a matter of time.

“If you look at the way he starts, the way he hits the ball, it’s brilliant. He’s timing it, he’s getting some really, really good starts. Yes, he’s disappointed as well, that he’s not being able to convert them,” Jayawardene said.

“We’ve seen Rohit batting deep, batting for 14-15 overs and getting those big scores. It’s just a matter of time. He’s a quality player and I am not concerned about the form as such.”

Rohit has scored 108 runs from five games at an average of 21.60. His highest in the season came against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Mumbai Indians (MI) campaign opener. The 34-year-old has gotten off to decent starts on three occasions but has failed to convert them into big scores.

On April 13, MI suffered their fifth loss in a row which makes their chances of reaching the playoffs very bleak. Chasing 199, MI got off to a flier with Rohit scoring 28 runs from 17 deliveries. Kagiso Rbada ended his innings in the fourth over to put MI on back foot. The opener hit three fours and two sixes during his short stay at the crease.

Jayawardene also explained his decision to send Suryakumar Yadav to bat at no.5 as he believes that the in-form batter is their designated finisher.

“Today was to try and take the game deep because we were playing with six batters. And there’s no better person than Surya to finish a game off,” Jayawardene said.

“In the powerplay, they would swing the ball a bit and all that. So I didn’t want Surya to go into that situation and not be able to play his natural game also. It was just a tactical thing.”

The 44-year-old’s tactics almost worked but after Suryarkumar’s wicket in the penultimate over, MI did not have enough firepower to hit big. Also, Kieron Pollard did not fire as he got run out in the 17th over. In the end, MI lost the game by 12 runs as they don’t bat deep.