Mumbai Indians have won one of their nine games in IPL 2022 and are placed at the bottom of the points table. While several factors explain the five-time champions’ failure this season, one big reason is captain Rohit Sharma’s poor form. 

Rohit Sharma has been struggling in IPL 2022. The 35-year-old has scored 155 runs in nine games at an average of 17.22. His strike rate is 123.01. The Mumbai Indians skipper’s scores this season read – 41 (32), 10 (5), 3 (12), 26 (15), 28 (17), 6 (7), 0 (2), 39 (31) and 2 (5). He has played 56 dots in powerplays, scoring 136 off 104 balls. 

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MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene on Thursday, in a virtual press conference, admitted that Sharma is struggling to convert his starts. 

“Let me answer that in a much fairer way. Yes, as you rightly said Ro (Rohit Sharma) has been brilliant in batting for long periods, getting those big scores consistently and the rest of the guys have batted around him. He knows he had starts and he is disappointed that he has been unable to convert them into big ones. For a team to work it is not about just one individual, it is about a team executing a game plan. The way we have structured our lineup this season, that is something we have lacked and at the top,” Jayawardene said. 

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Rohit Sharma has always scored close to 400 or more runs in seasons Mumbai have done well. When the team won their first IPL title in 2013, he had made 538. The 35-year-old had 482 in 2015, 333 in 2017, 405 in 2015 and 332 runs in 2020. He has only five more games to prove his worth this year. 

Jaywardane, however, said more than Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians have failed as a unit. 

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” It is about getting most of the guys playing good cricket and having that consistency going through. That is something we have lacked. You take Gujarat Titans for example this season, you have seen them winning 3-4 games at least from positions from where they were completely outplayed by individual brilliance or finishing games off by either Miller, Tewatia or even Rashid. That is what the season requires and we have not had that spark,” he said.