It is not a ritual anymore. Over the years, five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians’ (MI) ideal start includes few losses and then a string of wins to qualify for playoffs. However, this time it has not been the case as they have went on to lose six matches in a row in the 10-team tournament, where it is already tough to make it into the playoffs. After the 18-run loss, skipper Rohit is still helpful that his team makes a comeback. The 34-year-old also backs himself to lead from the front and do well with the bat after scoring just 114 runs from six games.
“I'm trying to prepare myself in the way I prepare for every game, that is no different. It's not coming off, I take the full responsibility of no putting the team in the situation of what they expect from me. I back myself to go out there and enjoy the game and doing what I have been doing all these years.
“It's important to keep looking forward. It's not the end of the world, we have come back before and we will try and comeback again,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Rohit did not point fingers at any particular player after the loss against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). However, he wants his bowlers to do well as a unit after conceding 199 against LSG at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. While Bumrah conceded 24 runs from his four overs, Tymal Mills went for 56 runs in just three overs.
“They bat quite deep and it is important to hold your key bowlers towards the back end. We always try and keep Bumrah for the back end and it didn't seem to work out. He bowled pretty well but the others just need to pull up their socks a little bit,” Rohit rued extra runs in the slog overs.
MI are yet to figure out their winning combination. Their overseas picks have not been successful so far and the absence of Jofra Archer did not do them any favour either. In the first few games, they did not have services of Suryakumar Yadav, which weakened their middle-order. Dewald Brevis has been the only positive for them so far among overseas picks.
“We lost 6 games now, we are trying to understand what our right combination is, but it all depends on the opposition that we play. When you lose games it is very easy to point out that changes are being made but we try and go with our best eleven,” he further added.
