Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra feels Mumbai Indians (MI) opener Rohit Sharma could finally have a massive IPL season with the bat. Chopra opined on how over the 16 seasons of the IPL, Rohit has had just one season where he smashed over 500 runs (538 in 2013 edition). However, he added that the burden of captaincy handed over to Hardik Pandya could help him as well.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said, “Rohit Sharma is such a player that we always expect he will have a 500-plus runs season. However, there has been just one instance of it so far. If they have relieved him of captaincy, it could bring the best out of Rohit. He could be another reason (for their success).”
Aakash Chopra also added that there are players like Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav who haven’t played competitive cricket in a long time. But they will be hungry to do well and that could work in MI’s favour as well. However, he also felt that on the other hand, they would
also have a lack of match practice so that can be a concern too. He also feels Mumbai Indians didn’t strengthen their spin bowling department.
“They do not have the depth in spin quality. I love Piyush Chawla and he had a great season last time. Mohammad Nabi as an off-spinner on a small ground in Wankhede. Chawla was outstanding last year but hasn’t played a lot of cricket coming into the IPL. There isn’t a great spin back up and you may need that during the second half of the season,” he added.
However, Aakash Chopra believes Mumbai Indians (MI) can win their sixth IPL title in the 2024 edition of the league because of the strong Indian core in the side as well. However, Mumbai had Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, and Suryakumar Yadav as their Indian core last year. Chopra feels star speedster Jasprit Bumrah’s return along with Hardik Pandya will help them a lot.
“Most teams that go on to win the IPL have a solid Indian core. We have seen that teams that are overdependent on their foreign players eventually end up faltering.”When you look at the Mumbai players, there’s a wealth of experience in their Indian core with seven players having India caps. Normally the Indian core is a weakness with teams but not with MI and that’s why I feel they can win IPL 2024. Suryakumar Yadav hasn’t played cricket for a while so even he will be hungry. Jasprit Bumrah is back in the IPL after missing last season and they just have an incredible combination. They can play multiple overseas pacers if they want. Their players have the hunger,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
