IPL 2021: “Rohit Sharma need not take too much responsibility like KL Rahul does” - Sanjay Manjrekar previews MI-RR clash

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma should not adopt a conservative approach like KL Rahul does for Punjab Kings (PBKS). According to Manjrekar, Rohit should play attacking cricket because that’s when he is at his best.

Rohit has not had the best of times in the UAE leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. He has registered scores of 33, 43, 8 and 7 in the four matches Mumbai have played in the second half of the T20 league.

MI are currently languishing in the seventh position in the IPL 2021 points table and face an uphill task as far as qualifying for the IPL playoffs is concerned. They will take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Sharjah on Tuesday, aiming to keep their hopes of progressing alive.

Previewing the MI vs RR clash on his Instagram handle, Manjrekar admitted that the batting department is a major worry for Mumbai. He said:

“The positive for Mumbai is that Suryakumar Yadav looked good in the last match so you might see him carrying on that form. But the worry is someone like a Hardik Pandya. He showed some spark in the game before the last one. But in the last match, he again struggled a bit. They have got some issues.”

Speaking specifically about Mumbai skipper Rohit, the former Mumbai cricketer advised:

“Rohit Sharma needs to get some runs but not take too much of a responsibility like KL Rahul does for Punjab. He could play his attacking game but the others need to contribute.”

Mumbai have lost four and won only one of the five games they have played in the UAE leg of IPL 2021 so far.

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Bringing Rahul Chahar back might make sense: Manjrekar suggests changes to MI's playing XI

According to Manjrekar, Mumbai could make a couple of changes to their playing XI for the game against RR.

He opined that, under the current circumstances, Rahul Chahar would be a better option than Krunal Pandya. Manjrekar explained:

“Krunal Pandya’s batting is not coming good, so his bowling is coming into focus. When you have so many left-handers in Rajasthan, just Jayant Yadav may not be enough. Having a Piyush Chawla, who bowls a good googly or bringing Rahul Chahar back in the playing XI might make sense.”

The 56-year-old also backed fast bowler Adam Milne to make a comeback in place of Nathan Coulter-Nile. He stated:

“May be for his batting, Coulter-Nile played the last two games. But they might be tempted to go back to Adam Milne, considering that there is enough batting, although they (batters) are a bit out of form.”

29-year-old Milne went for 48 runs in the game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and was subsequently replaced by Coulter-Nile.