Rohit not opening a Mumbai Indians’ blunder

rohit sharma

 

By Gaurav Joshi

Mumbai: On a most infamous occasion in a Test match against West Indies once, legendary opening batsmen, Sunil Gavaskar had decided to demote himself to number 4 to add solidarity to the middle order. But as it happened the openers were out in the first couple of overs and Gavaskar had walked in at 2 wickets without a run on the border.

As Gavaskar entered the field, Viv Richards said to him “doesn’t matter where you bat Sunny the score will be always the same”.

During the IPL, the Mumbai Indians had struggled to register a win and their captain, the mainstay, the backbone of the batting, Rohit Sharma had once again demoted himself down to Number 4. In the opening match he had played an impetus innings of 98 from the opening role but in defining match against Chennai he had skipped down the order.

Like Gavaskar, the move turned out to be unsuccessful as Rohit had to enter the frame at two wickets for six. Similar to Gavaskar, he cherished under the circumstances producing a high quality half century to guide his team to a defendable total.

In a disappointing start to the IPL and with coaching panel that includes Ponting, Kumble and Rhodes the planning behind the most backed team in the IPL remains extremely disappointing.

Not only is Rohit Sharma had most of his recent success batting higher up the order but it is also a no brainer that the best batsmen should face the most balls.

Also, given the Mumbai Indians are also consulted by Sachin Tendulkar, it is difficult to believe the mastero would push for Rohit as an opener, given the way Tendulkar felt when he was asked to bat down the order.

Mumbai Indians campaign might be slowly disintegrating and the month of May is still yet to dawn. There have been many mistakes in the recruitment and planning but the fatal one has been to bat their best batsmen in the middle order than opening with him.

 

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