Dubai: Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma seems to be losing patience with the way his batters are letting the team down in this edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and he vent out his frustration following the 54-run thrashing at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore Sunday.
While MI fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah kept hitting the right line and length to torment RCB batters, snaring three crucial wickets of Devdutt Padikkal, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers and restricting the rivals to a sub-180 total — which looked a distinct possibility at one point –, the batters were woeful with only two MI players crossing the 20-run mark.
Openers Rohit Sharma (42) and South African wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock (24) managed decent scores while no other MI batsman could reach double digits. Mumbai Indians innings folded up for 111 runs in 18.1 overs.
“Thought it was a fantastic bowling effort from us. At one stage they (RCB) looked like they were scoring 180-plus. The batters let us down and that’s been something that’s been happening consistently. I have had a good chat with the batters and we have to make sure we carry on. I played a bad shot and got out; I felt that was the game-changing moment. They kept the pressure on us once a couple of wickets fell.”
Sharma said that despite the odds heavily stacked against the side, the only way out is to bounce back. Mumbai have slipped to seventh on the points table with eight points from 10 outings after losing three consecutive games here and are on the threshold of an early exit.
“We need to bounce back from whatever situation we’re in. We’ve done that in the past. It’s just not happening this season. Ishan Kishan is a talented player. He had a terrific IPL last year. We want to back his natural game which is why he came up the order above Surya (Suryakumar Yadav). I don’t want to put too much pressure on the guy. He’s relatively young, making his way in international cricket,” added Sharma.
MI next play Punjab Kings at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi September 28.