MI head coach Mark Boucher opens to rest captain Rohit Sharma if needed in IPL 2023
Mar 29, 2023
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 29 : Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher on Wednesday said that the franchise will be open to the suggestion of resting captain Rohit Sharma for "one or two games" in the upcoming Indian Premier League 2023 season if doing so would make him feel more rested and eager to play.
Mumbai Indians will start their IPL 2023 campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 2.
"In terms of resting Rohit, he is the captain. Hopefully, he gets into good form and hopefully, he doesn't want to rest. But, yeah, we will react to whatever the situation is. If I can get the best out of him as a captain and a player if he rests one or two games, then I will do that," Boucher said in a press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Because of a recurrence of back issue, star pacer Jasprit Bumrah will not play for the Mumbai Indians.
Rohit said that the replacement for the injured star pacer will be decided by the team in the next few days.
Bumrah has been out of action since September 2022 owing to a back injury and as a result, missed the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. The ace pacer completed his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and has been seen bowling in the nets but BCCI have chosen not to rush him back into action.
"Regarding Bumrah's replacement, we've been discussing a few options. Hopefully, we can close it down in the next couple of days, and then we will see how we will go about it," Rohit said in the press conference.
"We have been talking about Bumrah. He is a big miss. Jasprit Bumrah's role was quite important for Mumbai Indians, it's a big shoe to fill. But it gives someone else an opportunity for the youngsters in the team to showcase their talent. We have a couple of guys who have been with this team for the last few years. They are very much ready to take the centre stage and hopefully can blood in some youngsters," he added.
There are speculations that Arjun Tendulkar, the son of legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, will finally make his IPL debut now that Bumrah is sidelined due to injury. Arjun is still recuperating from his injuries, according to Boucher.
"Arjun is coming back from a injury and he has played a lot of cricket over the last six months. When he is available for selection it will be good for us," Boucher said.
