Captaining India in all three formats taking a toll on MI skipper Rohit Sharma: Graeme Smith

Captaining India in all three formats taking a toll on MI skipper Rohit Sharma: Graeme Smith: Former Protea skipper Graeme Smith reckons leading Indian colours in all the three cricketing formats may take a toll on Rohit Sharma’s mental health in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. 

Sharma, who captain’s Mumbai Indians, hasn’t been able to register a win in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League. His side has lost all the four opening matches of the Tata IPL 2022 on the trot.

Notably, Rohit Sharma, 34, was handed team India’s reins following Virat Kohli’s quit from a couple of formats. So far, the decorated IPL skipper has led team India to two consecutive white ball wins against West Indies and Sri Lanka followed by a test series win against the island nation.

Smith, one of the finest skippers of his time, has questioned whether the pressure of leading team India is hampering Rohit Sharma to play freely in the Indian Premier League.

“This is the first tournament he is captaining MI since becoming India’s white-ball captain. Does that mental strain take a toll in the IPL? It’s something to consider,” Smith was quoted as saying by ‘Cricket.com’.

The South African further added that Mumbai Indians win a lot of matches when Rohit Sharma’s bat does a lot of talking.

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“Rohit is the energy at the top of the order. Gets them off to a start, sets up the game that allows everyone else to play. When he is scoring runs MI are going to win a lot of the time.”

Notably, Rohit Sharma hasn’t been able to score a lot of runs in four matches of the IPL 2022. The Mumbai skipper has only scored 80 runs in four IPL 2022 games at an average of 20.00.

“He’s just such a key player. If you look at the line-up, Rohit, an outstanding player, hasn’t found form. 

“You’ve got Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav injured for a couple of games. He has now come in and is looking good and then Pollard as the power finisher. You’ve got (Dewald) Brevis there but he’s a young man. That’s a very strong batting line-up.”

Mumbai Indians are currently taking on Punjab Kings (PBKS) in its fifth IPL 2022 game. The Men in Blue and Gold would be eager to bring up their first win of the season by defeating Punjab Kings.

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