Kris Srikkanth backs Rohit Sharma to open the innings for Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma is yet to set the stage on fire with the bat in this season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).  He has scored only a couple of half-centuries while bagging the same number of golden ducks. His team is struggling to stay alive in the tournament and are facing a do or die situation with 4 matches left in the league stages. However, the former Indian cricketer Kris Srikkanth wants Rohit to open the innings and feels that he will regain his form automatically then.

The vice-captain of Team India has so far mustered only 231 runs after playing 10 games at an average of close to 29 and has scored his runs at a strike-rate of 142. Mumbai has won both the matches in which he has scored more than 50 and has looked out of touch while batting at number 4. But he has no option to bat at the top of the order as the duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis have fared decently providing the team with good starts.

Only concern in the line-up

Kris Srikkanth, in his column for Times of India, believed that the defending champions look settled with their team now and pointed out the only concern for the team. “It has been heartening to see Mumbai settle in with the right combination. They have been covering all bases in their last few games; however the only area where I feel they could do better is Rohit Sharma needs to open the innings,” he wrote.

Srikkanth also went on to say that he should open at the Eden Gardens against KKR which has been a happy hunting venue for him in his career. “It goes without saying that the best batsman in the side should be allowed to face maximum deliveries. For an opener with such an outstanding record in white ball cricket, I can’t really see a reason why Rohit refuses to open in the IPL. Eden Gardens is one of his happy hunting grounds and I would like to see the skipper open the innings,” he further added.

It remains to be seen if Mumbai shuffle their batting order in the crucial game against Dinesh Karthik and his men on Wednesday.

[interaction id=”5af0777f69f1eabd576f62eb”]

Keep following CricTracker for more news and updates