MI head coach reveals why Rohit Sharma has been featuring as an impact sub in IPL 2025 ahead of match versus GT 

Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mahela Jayawardene revealed that veteran batter Rohit Sharma has been dealing with a niggle since the 2025 Champions Trophy, forcing him to feature as an impact sub in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 campaign.

Rohit Sharma has featured in all of MI's matches in IPL 2025 except the away contest against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He started the season as an impact sub in the loss to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), but featured as an outfield player in the next match against the Gujarat Titans (GT). Since then, he has been featuring only as a batter for eight matches in a row.

In MI's previous clash against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), Rohit Sharma was on the field for seven overs in the second innings, before Karn Sharma came in as the impact player.

Fans and pundits were puzzled as to why someone with Rohit Sharma's leadership and experience was confined to the bench. The uproar only increased when the veteran's tips from the dugout made a profound impact on MI's fortunes on the field.

"If you look at the composition of the team, most of the guys are doing dual roles; most of them are bowling. At the same time, some of the venues need boundary runners, you need guys with speed and all that so that also comes into play," Jayawardene said ahead of MI's clash against GT (via NDTV).

"Ro was also nursing a niggle from the Champions Trophy so we wanted to make sure that we don't push him too hard, and we have managed that while (his) batting is the most important thing," he added.

MI will face GT in a crucial top-of-the-table clash at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday, May 6.

Rohit Sharma had sustained a hamstring injury in the 2025 Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan

The Team India skipper had left the field after tweaking his hamstring during fielding in the high-octane group-stage clash against Pakistan on February 23. There were strong rumors that Rohit Sharma might rest himself for the final group-stage match against New Zealand since India had already secured qualification for the knockouts. However, the week-long break helped, and the skipper featured to lead the side.

"He's all right. As you can see, he's batting, and he did a little bit of fielding earlier. It's an injury he's had before, so he knows how to manage it really well, and he's on top of it," Team India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate had said ahead of the New Zealand clash in Dubai (via NDTV).

Rohit Sharma went on to play the semi-finals and the final of the tournament against Australia and New Zealand, respectively. The opening batter was even the Player of the Match in the final for his 83-ball 76.