Pollard backs Rohit to come good despite his initial poor scores

Mumbai Indians batting coach, Keiron Pollard, has thrown his weight behind Rohit Sharma, who has had a difficult start to IPL 2025.

Rohit has returned scores of 0 [vs CSK], 8 [vs GT] and 13 [vs KKR] in the three matches this season and his lack of runs is at odds with his form during the Champions Trophy and England ODIs before that. While it was a peach from Mohammed Siraj that got the better of him in Ahmedabad, his wickets against Khaleel Ahmed in Chennai and Andre Russell in Mumbai were soft dismissals, when he was caught inside the ring. That said, away-moving deliveries have created constant problems for him.

"There are times when you have a couple of low scores but, you know, he's earned the right as an individual to now enjoy his cricket and not be pressurized in certain situations," Pollard said about Rohit on the eve of the LSG-MI match in Lucknow. "So let's not judge on a couple low scores. In cricket, you know, we fail more than we succeed and I'm sure we'll be singing out his praises when he comes out and gives us that big score and then we'll be on to the next hot topic.

"Personally, I've played alongside Rohit since under-19 cricket and he has forged his name and etched his name in history, in the record books, in different situations, different formats of the game. He's a legendary name in his own right and as an individual as well."

Rohit retired from T20Is after leading India to the T20 World Cup title but finds himself behind the eight ball in a format that's evolved very quickly in the last couple of years. Not to forget, there's stiff competition from younger players who have grown up on power-hitting and IPL cricket.

Pollard spoke about the reality of "generational changes" in the MI side but also reckoned that there's still room for the established players who have proved themselves over the years.

"Well, there's a place for everyone," Pollard said. "You know, when you look at it, at some point in time, the superstars we speak about were young talents as well. At one point in time. So why would we say there's no space for them?

"We just need to continue to be careful in the way that we portray things. There's a cycle in everything that you do. There are generational changes and you know, we just need to accept. We have opportunity now, we have young guys coming in at different times and doing well, and we tend to now put a lot of expectations on their shoulders and straight away, start to think about the senior guys, who have nurtured them as well, should be out of reckoning.

"So I think in everything that we do, there should be a balance. And you know, it's all well and good that you know every single year of the IPL, you get to unearth, you know, young talent. And now that thing is healthy for Indian cricket."

The likes of Vignesh Puthur, Ashwani Kumar and Satyanarayana Raju have already put in impressive spells for MI this season, and Pollard spoke highly of MI's scouting system.

"I have a fair idea of how we as a franchise sort of do it," Pollard said. "And I think over the years we have been, you know, successful in unearthing cricketers each and every time there's an IPL year or even during the year, a different juncture. So, you know, for us, as I said, there's a method to the madness and again, we continue to see young talent emerge and hopefully they can keep emerging and they can do well for a long time."