Rohit Sharma hasn’t asked for a break, clarifies MI coach Mark Boucher

Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mark Boucher on Saturday clarified that skipper Rohit Sharma had not asked to be rested midway into the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL), but would address the issue should such a request arise.

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Five-time IPL champions MI haven’t had a pleasant run in the 16th edition of the league so far, winning three and losing four and finding themselves at the eighth position with a Net Run Rate of -0.620.

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Given that he has another major responsibility in the form of leading the Indian team in the World Test Championship final against Australia coming up, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar had advised Rohit to take a break during the IPL and keep himself fresh for the clash that takes place between 7-11 June at the Oval in London.

“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.

“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 ahead of Mumbai’s clash against the Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.

Boucher admitted that Mumbai Indians have gone back to the drawing board to discuss their death overs bowling, after conceding 96 runs in the last five overs against Punjab Kings followed by 70 runs off four overs against Gujarat Titans to end up on the losing side in both the games.

“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.

Read | Archer hits back at reports of him travelling to Belgium for elbow surgery

Rajasthan Royals pacer Trent Boult, who was released from New Zealand’s central contract last year which gave him opportunity to play in various other leagues around the world, said that he was desperate to play in the upcoming ODI World Cup in India.

“Of course, (I am) desperate to play in ODI World Cup it is one of the biggest events in the calendar. My sole focus is on IPL at the moment and if things work out (well) I am 100 per cent I want to be there,” Boult said.

The left-arm New Zealand bowler heaped praise on young Rajasthan Royals batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel for their impressive batting in this IPL.

“Those guys are just confident. They are realistic, they go out and play their natural game. It has been great to come here early and I have seen the hard work that has gone in prior to the IPL start.

“They played with freedom and played some great innings. Yashasvi is an incredible find and the one to watch out for India as well he has played some great knocks already.”

Boult also described Royals captain Sanju Samson as one of the best batters in India and a good thinker of the game.

He said he wanted to be aggressive with the new ball which has resulted in plenty of wickets for him at the start of innings.

“I am just trying to pitch the ball up. There has been a little bit of swing around and Wankhede (Stadium) is one place where I have enjoyed bowling in the past. I just try to keep it simple, try to be as aggressive as far as possible.

“It is everyone’s race. There have been a few great games so far and (we are) only at the halfway mark. Every team is pushing for those eight or nine wins to hopefully get to the top two but we are just taking it game-by-game.”

The Kiwi pacer said he would like a few rules to help the bowlers too after Lucknow Super Giants’ crossed the 250-run mark against Punjab Kings on Friday.

“When we saw 200 runs being scored it was amazing and now 250 is well within reach. Who knows about 300?

“Those subtle rule changes that keep popping up, I would not mind a couple of them to favour the bowlers in some respect. The game has been so good to have the super sub with bat, it effectively gives the team another batsman to chase these scores and it is no surprise that we are seeing such great scores at the moment,” he said.

With inputs from PTI

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