Under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians (MI) got ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, as they finished fifth after the league stage and their bid to bounce back from that disappointment has not started well. A similar story seems to be turning out in the IPL 2022 as well as they have lost all their three matches so far this season. Their latest loss to Kolkata Knight Riders means MI are among three teams — defending champions Chennai Super Kings and SunRisers Hyderabad being the others — not to open their account in IPL 2022.
Following the loss to KKR, MI skipper, Rohit Sharma was seen giving a passionate speech to his teammates in the dressing room. In a video shared by the franchise, he was heard saying, “We seriously cannot be blaming individuals here. It’s all of us. We win together, we lose together. That is as simple as that for me. I think slight desperation is required from each one of us. That desperation is very, very, very important when we play, especially in this tournament.”
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He further added, “Because oppositions are different, they come up with different plans all the time. We just need to stay ahead of them. We just need to stay on top of them. And the only way we can do that is by having that slight hunger and that desperation on the field – with the bat, with the ball.”
𝕀𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣
Skipper’s message to the entire team 👊💙#OneFamily #DilKholKe #MumbaiIndians #KKRvMI @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/msWmXrUJD4
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 7, 2022
Rohit Sharma told his teammates that there is no need for them to push the panic button just yet and it was still early in the tournament.
Elaborating the same, “We don’t need to panic. Honestly, we talk about talent, potential and everything in this room – but until we bring that desperation and hunger on the ground, oppositions are not going to hand us wins just like that. They certainly took the victory from us. We need to do that against the opposition as well. We need to nail those crucial moments and then see what happens, after that.”
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He concluded, “There’s no point in putting our heads down at this point, because it’s still early days. Still early days. And I feel that, in these three games that we’ve played we’ve shown some character. It’s just that collectively, all 11 of us inside – whoever goes inside – need to come together.”
Mumbai’s next game is against the high-flying Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), who beat Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the last match.
