“Tactically I Don’t Think He Was at His Best”- Sanjay Manjrekar on Rohit Sharma’s Captaincy in IPL 2023

Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians got defeated by Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2023 Qualifier 2 by 62 runs after which they have missed out on an opportunity to make it to the finals. Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar reckons that Rohit Sharma wasn’t tactically at his best in IPL 2023.

While the MI side finished at the fourth position in the points table with 16 points against their name, Manjrekar found multiple errors in their tactics. The former batter believes that their selection strategy wasn’t up to the mark specifically in the first half of the tournament.

You would wonder why certain players played at that stage: Sanjay Manjrekar

“Tactically the two best teams have been CSK and Titans, why not Mumbai Indians. So tactically also with off field tactics, their players selection in the first half as well, where you would wonder why certain players played at that stage and there were some important losses that happened,” Manjrekar said while speaking on ESPN Cricinfo.

“All those you would think those are the controllables that he didn’t do a great job. What I won’t be too critical about is failures with the bat but tactically I don’t think he was at his best this IPL,” the former Indian batter further discussed about Rohit Sharma’s tactics in IPL 2023.

Mumbai Indians started the season by losing 4 of their first 7 matches and at once it looked like they would fail to qualify for the playoffs. However, they rebounded pretty well in the second half, winning 5 of their last 7 games to qualify for the playoffs after defeating some tough teams like Gujarat Titans.

Rohit Sharma and Mumbai Indians’ team management faced some criticism throughout the tournament for their selection strategy. They kept playing English pacer Jofra Archer who failed to make any impact throughout the tournament before leaving it midway.

Star all-rounder Cameron Green was demoted down the order in a few games which didn’t allow him to face enough deliveries to make any impact on the game. In the later stage, Chris Jordan was preferred over Rilee Meredith despite the former leaking runs on a consistent basis leading to their downfall.