Rohit Sharma praises Mumbai Indians efforts to ease mental strain of bubble
Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma has praised the efforts of team management to mitigate the mental strain of the bio-secure environment that surrounds the 2020 Indian Premier League.
Rohit revealed that team bosses have gone out of their way to ensure players are able to relax while being confined to their hotel.
Mumbai Indians take the edge off the bubble
Some of the players are lucky enough to have their family travel with them and get to enjoy downtime with their loved ones who have agreed to enter the bubble.
“Mentally it is tough, but hats off to the team management,” Rohit told an online press conference from the team hotel in their base of Abu Dhabi.
“In our hotel, they have created some amazing space around where we can just relax, chill, spend time with your family and relax.
“We have been here for almost three weeks and have been in good spirits. Now it’s all about preparation and getting into that game phase mode.”
The bulk of the Mumbai Indians squad have little to no experience of playing in the UAE and Rohit believes that teams that adapt to conditions quickest will progress to the playoffs.
Rohit expects the bowlers to play a bigger role than they have in previous editions of the IPL, with the tracks expected to take turn and the playing areas being larger than many grounds in India.
“Not a lot of cricketers from our group have played here,” Rohit added.
“Not just the spinners, but even the seamers will have a lot of assistance.”
Rohit to open with De Kock
Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene confirmed that Rohit will open the batting for the franchise alongside South Africa skipper Quinton de Kock, with Australian recruit Chris Lynn starting the tournament as back-up.
“Having options is always great. Chris Lynn is a great addition to the squad but the combination of Rohit and Quinton has been there for us, last season they complement each other well,” said Mahela Jayawardene.
“It has been very consistent and both are well-experienced cricketers. I always feel ‘why fix something that ain’t broken’. So we will continue to go with that but having Lynn as an option gives us flexibility in the squad,” added the former Sri Lanka skipper.
Mumbai Indians will kickstart the IPL when the defending champions meet last year’s beaten finalist Chennai Super Kings in Abu Dhabi on Saturday 19 September.
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