Rohit Sharma and Mahela Jayawardene, the Mumbai Indians captain and coach respectively, played down the talk of the most successful Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise enjoying the ‘undue’ advantage of being the only team to play home games in IPL 2022.
“A lot of the new guys have come into the team, so I don’t believe in added advantage because 70-80% of the squad hasn’t played in Mumbai before. There is no such thing as an added advantage,” Rohit said on Wednesday during Mumbai Indians’ pre-tournament media interaction.
“Only myself, Surya, Pollard, Ishan and Bumrah have played in Mumbai a lot, others have not played. We all are playing in Mumbai after two years. In fact, the other franchises have played in Bombay last year. We didn’t get to play, so no advantage.”
With the IPL’s league stage to be played at four stadia in the Mumbai-Pune corridor, MI — just like other teams — will play four games at Wankhede Stadium. It will be the first time since 2019 that MI will play at its home ground.
Head coach Jayawardene said the rejig would make it a level-playing field. “This is not something that’s in our control. I don’t even remember when last we played in Mumbai. That was about two-and-half or three years ago,” said the Sri Lankan.
“I think a lot of the other guys played last season and some who played for Mumbai over the last few years are with other franchises. So they have that advantage if you look at it.”
While Rohit confirmed that he will open the innings with Ishan Kishan, Jayawardene stressed the tag of being the most expensive player in the action will not bother the dynamic batter-wicketkeeper.
“With 10 teams, we knew that there would be dilution and it would be tough to get players back. We wanted to create something and that’s where the franchise went and bought Ishan back to give that partnership, especially at the top. Rohit and Ishan are a good combination,” Jayawardene said.
“If he has a couple of bad games, there is bound to be a little bit of pressure. But, having been around the Mumbai set-up and seen how we operate and create that environment, I don’t feel it would be an issue for him.”
