Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batting coach Sanjay Bangar has come out in support of out-of-form Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma who is going through probably his worst Indian Premier League (IPL) season with the bat. Rohit has registered five single-digit scores on the trot including two ducks. He has scored 191 runs in the season so far including just one half-century. Against RCB, he got out after scoring just seven runs. Even though MI chased down the 200-run target in record 16.3 overs, Rohit has copped criticism for his extended poor run with the willow as World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia is just around the corner.
"He (Rohit) has been playing for such a long period of time and captaining in all formats for India and the franchisee as well, it does take an emotional toll. It is mentally taxing as well," Bangar told the media in the post-match press conference when asked about Rohit’s form.
"But he knows it, he has done it for such a long time. For the sake of Mumbai Indians and for the sake of Indian cricket, we just hope that he returns to his run-scoring normal routine.
"It is very important for us (India) that he fires and does really well in the World Test Championship final.”
While former head coach Ravi Shastri and legendary Sunil Gavaskar questioned Rohit’s shot selection, Bangar did not have any input for the opener.
"The time and energy a captain has to spend towards planning and strategy for a team in a tough tournament like the IPL might also have a little bit of an effect on Rohit's batting form.
"In a tournament like IPL, the energies that a captain has to spend towards planning and strategy also may have a little bit of an effect."
Bangar feels that the format of T20 cricket is such that it becomes difficult for batters to regain form.
“In T20 format, you do not have the luxury of time. Because you are chasing 200, you can’t play yourself in and you have to go after the ball, from ball one, or at least try and put pressure on the opposition.
"You saw what he tried to do against (Josh) Hazlewood, he jumped out on the first ball. Normally, it is not something that you see from a batsman who is not among runs.
“But those are the demands of T20 game, if you are scoring runs and if you are in-form, then you look to catch on, but if you are not among runs, it becomes slightly difficult. You still have to make sure that your approach does not hurt the overall benefit of the team,” he explained.
Despite Rohit's struggle with the bat, MI climed to the third spot on the points table witht their sixth win from 11 games. They will take on defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) in the next encounter on May 12 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
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