Five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) have made a disastrous start to their campaign in 2022 as well, after failing to qualify for the playoffs in the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL). After losing all three of their matches, Rohit Sharma & Co are unsurprisingly in the bottom half of the points table with a net run rate of -1.362.
MI had every chance to win those games, but stumbled in crucial moments and didn’t win so far. Rohit’s team lost to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by five wickets at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Wednesday.
The game looked set to go down the wire, but Pat Cummins’ 14-ball half-century guided the Knights to victory with four overs to spare. Cummins made the game one-sided after scoring 56 runs in 15 balls with the help of four fours and six sixes.
Despite the defeat at the start of the tournament, skipper Rohit urged his teammates not to press the panic button, but asked them to show more appetite and be more active. After the match on 6 April, the 34-year-old gave a motivational speech in the dressing room, asking his team to rise like a phoenix from the ashes.
Need a little desperation from each and every one of us: Rohit Sharma
Rohit said, “We seriously can’t blame the individuals here. It’s all of us. We win together, we lose together. It’s as simple as that for me.”
“I think a little bit of frustration is needed from each of us. That frustration is very, very important when we play, especially in this tournament. Because the opposition is different, they come up with different plans all the time. We just need to stay ahead of them. We just need to stay on top of them. And all we can do is get a little bit of hunger and that frustration on the field – with the bat, with the ball,” he said.
“We don’t need to panic. Honestly, we talk about talent, ability and everything in this room – but unless we bring that frustration and hunger to the ground, the opposition won’t win us like this Will give
“They definitely won us over. We need to do the same against the opposition. We need to capitalize on those crucial moments and then see what happens after that,” Rohit said.
Rohit & Co will next face Faf du Plessis’ Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Saturday, April 9 at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
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