IPL 2023 / Do Mumbai Indians no longer need Rohit Sharma?

IPL 2023: Rohit Sharma made Mumbai Indians champions 5 times under his captaincy. Rohit brought Mumbai out of trouble several times and brought it to the throne. In 2013, when Ricky Ponting left the captaincy during the season itself, Rohit took over the team. He not only handled the team, but also made the champion. From 2013 to 2020, Mumbai became the most successful team of IPL by winning 5 titles. However, after this the next 2 seasons were very bad. In 2021 the team was at 5th and in 2022 at the last place.

After 2 bad seasons, Mumbai again reached the playoffs and it is just 2 steps away from its sixth title. Once again under the captaincy of Rohit, the team reached here, but then and now Mumbai has changed a lot. Earlier Rohit was making the team a winner with his captaincy and his bat, but now the team does not need him. The reason behind this is the young players of Mumbai, on whose own Mumbai reached the Qualifier 2, which was on the verge of getting out of the tournament at one time.

Team ready even without Rohit

There is no doubt that Rohit is a great captain and his presence adds strength to the team. Young players get a motivation, but seeing the way young players have taken responsibility in this IPL season, it can be said that the team is ready to take the field even without Rohit. That means the next generation of Mumbai is ready to take the responsibility.

Flop captain

This season Rohit proved to be the captain in name only. He was able to score only 324 runs in 15 matches. His average was 21.60. Even his bat remained calm in big matches. He was able to score only 11 runs in the Eliminator. The real work for Mumbai is being done by 22-year-old Nehal Wadhera, 20-year-old Tilak Verma, 23-year-old Cameron Green, 24-year-old Ishan Kishan, 28-year-old Akash Madhwal.

1. Mumbai reached Qualifier 2 solely on the strength of Akash Madhwal, who took 5/5 in 3.3 overs against Lucknow in the Eliminator. He has taken 13 wickets in 7 matches so far this season with an economy of 7.76.
2. Nehal Wadhera scored 237 runs in 13 matches at an average of 29.63. He put 2 Fifty. With the bat of Vadhera, runs were rained against Gujarat Titans, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
3. Tilak Verma was bought by Mumbai last season. Last season too, he scored 397 runs in 14 matches at an average of 36.09. This season he has become even more shining. He has just scored 300 runs in 10 matches at an average of 42.86. He is seen becoming the next superstar of Mumbai.
4. Mumbai spent Rs 17.50 crore on Cameron Green. Earlier this seemed like an expensive deal for Mumbai, but this all-rounder has shown that he can be the future of this franchise. He hit 448 runs in 15 matches. His average was 49.78. During this, he hit 1 century and 2 half-centuries. He also took 6 wickets.
5. How much trust Mumbai Indians have on Ishan Kishan, it was visible only last season. Mumbai had re-connected him by spending Rs 15.25 crore in the mega auction. Runs are coming out of Ishan's bat continuously. So far this season, he has scored 454 runs in 15 matches including 3 fifties.