IPL 2022: MI won’t be able to win unless Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan score big runs – Aakash Chopra

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has opined that Mumbai Indians won’t be able to win unless Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan score big runs for the franchise in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2022.

Mumbai Indians have got off to the worst possible start in the ongoing season as they have lost all of their seven matches.

Ishan Kishan, who was purchased for a whopping amount of INR 15.25 Crores by MI in the IPL 2022 mega auction, had scored a good couple of knocks in the first few matches but since then he has veered off the track. Kishan, who is known to hit the ground running, has also struggled with his strike rate as he has scored his runs at 116.64. The left-hander has managed 191 runs in seven matches for MI.

On the other hand, Rohit Sharma has also got off to starts in a few matches but he has failed to convert them into a substantial score. The MI skipper has failed to lead from the front as he has mustered only 114 runs in seven games at an average of 16.28.

Thus, the MI openers have failed to give their team good starts in the ongoing season and it has put their inexperienced middle order of Dewald Brevis and Tilak Varma under pressure. Furthermore, Kieron Pollard is also not in the best of forms in the ongoing season as he has failed to finish the innings on a high.

Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “MI won’t be able to win unless the likes of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan score big runs. As openers, you have 20 overs with you and these are good batting conditions. Jos Buttler has slammed 3 hundred so far in IPL 2022 and he has done well at this venue too. And it’s not just him, everyone else has performed well with the bat so you are bound to have expectations from Rohit and Ishan.”

“Dewald Brevis bats at number 3 and he did well against LSG in their previous clash. Suryakumar Yadav has been playing well, but what can he do alone? Kieron Pollard isn’t scoring at all. Their balance is completely off. They have 6 batters out of which nobody bowls, except Pollard and Tilak Verma. Hritik Shokeen did bat well in the last match but I found his bowling to be just okay.”

Meanwhile, the renowned commentator added that nobody expected Mumbai to lose their first seven matches as they are the most consistent team in the IPL.

“Nobody expected Mumbai Indians to lose all of their first 7 matches in IPL 2022. I might have said that they would not qualify, but losing 7 out of 7 is not possible. But it has happened and that too with the most successful team. All strange things have happened.”

MI will face LSG on Sunday at the Wankhede Stadium.