T20 2018: 'Rohit Sharma should have opened for Mumbai'

Shishir Hattangadi

Former Mumbai captain Shishir Hattangadi blamed Mumbai's poor show in T20 on the decision of not letting skipper Rohit Sharma open the innings, after the team crashed out of the tournament yesterday. In a must-win game to qualify for the playoffs, the three-time IPL champions lost to bottom-placed Delhi by 11 runs at the Feroz Shah Kotla after failing to chase their 175-run target.

Hattangadi, the former head of cricket at Mumbai, was upset that the franchise made their skipper, one of the best in the business of T20 batting, to come in as late as No. 4 in this edition of the tournament. "Rohit should have opened. There is no doubt about it. You need to have your best batsman play up in the order," Hattangadi told mid-day yesterday.

Rohit Sharma. Pic/ AFP

Throughout T20 Rohit, who scored 286 runs in 14 matches, had reasoned that batting at No. 4 lends stability to the middle order if their top three batsmen failed to fire. Hattangadi however, begged to differ. "In a 120-ball game, I don't believe in protecting your best batsman. You need a settled opening pair. Look at most of the successful teams like Chennai or Sunrisers Hyderabad. They don't tinker with their opening combination," he said. Hattangadi also felt that Kieron Pollard's poor run hurt Mumbai's prospects.

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