New Delhi: Rohit Sharma, who has led Mumbai Indians (MI) to five Indian Premier League (IPL) titles, will make his return to competitive cricket in the upcoming IPL season starting from March 28. Legendary Indian spinner and former MI player Harbhajan Singh feels that Rohit should continue to be actively involved in the field and not be used as an impact player.
The ‘Impact Player’ rule introduced in IPL 2023 allows teams to replace a member of the playing XI with one of five designated substitutes at any time during the match.
This tactical 12th player can bat and bowl, significantly enhancing team strategy, increasing scoring rates and enabling specialized batting or bowling reinforcements.
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Former India spinner Harbhajan spoke on JioStar and urged the Mumbai Indians management to keep Rohit on the field.
“Rohit Sharma is being used as the No. 12 batsman but I feel he is the kind of leader and a player like him should be in the field,” he said.
The 38-year-old played most of the games as an impact player last season as Mumbai Indians finished fourth in the points table.
Harbhajan also believes that MI captain Hardik Pandya can benefit from Rohit Sharma’s experience while taking crucial decisions in the game.
“In tough games, when you need to answer certain calls, when the captain sometimes needs a shoulder to cry on, Rohit Sharma can do that for Hardik Pandya,” Harbhajan said.
Last season, Rohit played 15 games for the Mumbai Indians and scored 418 points, averaging 29.86 points per game and shooting 149.29 points, with a highest score of 81 points.
He achieved this after a slow start to the season, culminating in four 50-plus scores in the eliminator against the Gujarat Titans and crossing the 7,000-career IPL mark.
