Mumbai, Apr 16: Rohit Sharma’s poor run of form hasn’t allowed Mumbai Indians to set the tone in in the IPL so far, believes former Indian women’s captain Anjum Chopra.The former MI captain has been reduced to an impact sub for the Hardik Pandya-led side with a string of low scores, 0,8, 13, 17 and 18, that cut a sorry figure in the IPL.
MI fashioned a 12-run win in their recent game against the Delhi Capitals on Sunday and are saddled in the seventh position in the ten-team points table with four losses and two wins.
“You can be out of form. It’s not a crime to be out of form. The only idea is that it’s not helping, it’s not setting the start that Mumbai Indians were looking for or are looking for right at the top,” Anjum said in an exclusive interaction on Tuesday.
Anjum suggested that if Rohit’s famed position at the top is unable to give them the returns they seek then demoting him down the order could do the trick.
“So, I mean, they have options, they can always look at pushing Rohit Sharma down the order or not utilizing all those options are always there. But it’s not that Rohit Sharma is out of form, it’s just that sometimes you don’t start the tournament on that good a note or that high a note and it can affect you as a batter or as a player as well,”
“So, it’s part and parcel. It’s like we are, we are watching a tournament as and when it’s an IPL or a World Cup. But tell me in a World Cup, would you want your best batter to be in form in a World Cup or not? And a lot of energy goes into delivering that kind of performance,”
Some people recover from that and step into the next tournament quicker than most or others. It’s not that others can’t get into it. He hasn’t got that kind of a start but then we know what kind of a player he is or what kind of a match winner is,” said Anjum.
It is not all doom and gloom for young opener Shafali Verma, whom Anjum advised not to lose heart after being overlooked once again.
“If she is rested or dropped from an Indian team, there is always an opportunity to make a comeback. I mean, it’s happened with any and everyone. It’s not that the heavens have fallen or the tides have changed. Every player goes through it.
“So, for a player of her age and if she starts thinking and people around her start thinking that it’s curtains for her, I think it’s a wrong thought. A 20, 21-year-old player can always look at the bright side that it is just the start of my career.
“I don’t think it’s curtains for her. I mean, we’re playing for India at the end of the day. So, you would expect that kind of competition,” said Anjum who played 12 Tests, 127 ODIs and 18 T20Is for India.