Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher on Saturday said Rohit Sharma has not asked for rest but will look into it if he does. Recently, ex-India skipper Sunil Gavaskar had advised Rohit to take rest in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 so that he could remain fresh and manage his workload as big ICC tournaments like IND vs AUS WTC Final, Asia Cup and ODI World Cup are also to be played this year. In that context, presence of a fully-fit Indian captain for national duty would be more important than the IPL. Team India, led by Rohit Sharma, will play final match of the World Test Championship against Australia at the Oval in London from 7th June.
ALSO READ | ‘…Predict The Runs He Will Score’: Engineering Paper Featuring Question On Viral Kohli Goes Viral
Rohit Sharma so far hasn’t missed a single match for Mumbai Indians in the IPL this year. The five-time IPL winners are currently placed at the eighth spot in 10-team IPL 2023 Points Table and requiring a lot to do in order to move up the standings.
“No, I don’t think he should take rest. That’s not my call to make. Obviously, we want Rohit playing, because he’s a very good player, and a leader as well,” Boucher told the media ahead of MI’s clash against Rajasthan Royals here on Sunday.
“If it is the best for Rohit, and he comes up to me and says that ‘you know, I need a bit of a break’ then yes, we will address that, and I will consider that. He hasn’t done that. So yes at the moment, if he is available to play, he will play,” Boucher said.
Mumbai Indians conceded 96 runs in the last five overs against Punjab Kings followed by 70 runs off four overs against Gujarat Titans and ended up losing both these matches. Boucher admitted that his team needs to work on death bowling.
“The first game, if we look at it, I spoke about dominating the most of it rather than in that short little period. We sort of repeated that in the second game which is something that if it happens once it is a mistake but if it happens twice, then it is something that we need to address.
“We have addressed it in meetings, there are lots of different ideas on how we are going to try and not do that again,” he said.
The MI coach confirmed that Jofra Archer went to Belgium for a ‘minor surgery’.
“Yes, he was (in Belgium for surgery). I believe it was a minor surgery. I think he went for a day. As far as I know, Jof is available for selection,” he said.
