IPL 2021: Need to maintain my lower body and hamstring after last year’s injury: Rohit Sharma

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has revealed that he needs to do a lot of work to keep his body in shape following the hamstring injury he suffered during the last IPL.

Rohit Sharma had to miss a few IPL games last season owing to his injury. However, he returned for the playoffs and top-scored with 68 in the final against Delhi Capitals.

Speaking about his fitness routine over the past few months, Rohit Sharma has said that he has had to work extra hard to keep himself in shape. In an interaction posted on Mumbai Indians’ official Twitter handle, Rohit Sharma revealed:

“(My fitness regime is) more about maintaining what I’ve built up in the last 3-4 months. Obviously, I was injured during the last IPL. So there’s a lot of maintenance work that I have to keep doing just to maintain my lower body and hamstring."

The MI captain has played over 200 games in the IPL. Asked about the same, he replied in a light-hearted manner:

“Yeah that’s a good milestone. I hope I can double that by playing another 200.”

Captain's Corner is 🔙 💙📹 | Ro talks about the team preparations, his fitness regime and more in this season's first episode 😎#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #MI #IPL2021 #KKRvMI #KhelTakaTak @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/BslpHSKcrc

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 13, 2021

Win or loss doesn’t matter, what matters is preparation: Rohit Sharma

Despite losing their IPL 2021 opener, which ended late night, the Mumbai Indians players were out training the next morning.

Rohit Sharma has said that giving it everything is something Mumbai Indians pride themselves on, observing in this regard:

“We want to keep putting that effort. Whether we win the game or lose doesn’t matter. For us what matters is the preparation. It is really great to see some of the fast bowlers who played the first game come out and get involved in doing the fitness drills. Putting that extra yard in, which is why we get those extra results in our favour.”

Rohit Sharma added that the team bonding and culture is very strong, which also reflects in their game.

“Lot of players getting involved in whatever it is. Whether it is going outside and playing a game, whether it is doing the fitness things, whether it is attending meetings. We try and do that with the entire group of players. There’s a lot of interaction about the game that is being played or the game that is about to come. And just to keep that bonding going between players is so important. Because every year you see new faces coming into the squad. And you want everyone to get adjusted to the MI culture as quickly as possible. So it’s important to have that togetherness. We’ve maintained that, and we’ll continue to do that,” Rohit Sharma elaborated.

➡️ Rohit's massive numbers against KKR➡️ Marco high on confidence after a promising debut📖 Read about all that and more in the #KKRvMI preview 👇🏻#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #MI #IPL2021https://t.co/kJ8TEisQzk

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 13, 2021

Mumbai Indians went down to Royal Challengers Bangalore by two wickets in their IPL 2021 opener on Friday. They now face the Kolkata Knight Riders in their second game on Tuesday.

Rohit Sharma was run out for 19 in the match against RCB. MI posted 159 for 9 but failed to defend their target as RCB got home off the last ball.