Rohit Sharma Should Spearhead The Mumbai Indians With The Bat In IPL 2020: Brett Lee

Brett Lee, former Australian fast bowler, has said that swashbuckling Indian opener and the captain of Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma, needs to concentrate on giving consistent contributions with the bat in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League.

Rohit Sharma is the most successful captain in the history of the cash-rich league. Sharma has led the Mumbai Indians to four IPL titles in the past six seasons, the last of which came in IPL 2019. That said, Rohit Sharma did not have a particularly good season with the bat last year as he failed to capitalize on the start that he got throughout the season.

Not only last year, Rohit has had three consecutive underwhelming seasons with the bat in the IPL. While he averaged 23.78 [333 runs] and 23.83 [286 runs] in 2017 and 2018, he managed 405 runs at an average of 28.92 in IPL 2019.

Brett Lee said Rohit should look to dominate the opposition bowlers given his prior experience in these conditions. He also added that his success with the bat will also help him while captaining the side on the field.

“The most important thing for Rohit Sharma is firstly to score runs for Mumbai Indians. He has got to be a good leader but I think being a good leader is a combination of leading from the front in terms of scoring runs and hopefully the rest of the team will take care of itself.” Brett Lee said on Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’

“And what I mean by that is that if he can go out and dominate at the top of the order with the bat, because of his experience and he knows the conditions better than most players, he has played a lot of cricket in the UAE and done very well, I think that will really help the case of then him becoming that captain.” he added.

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‘They are in my top four’- Brett Lee on Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians

Brett Lee and Dean Jones were asked about Mumbai Indians chances in IPL 2020 and agreed on the fact that the defending champions have a pretty solid squad and have almost every base covered for the conditions.

While Brett Lee said that MI will be one the top-4 sides to qualify for the playoffs, Dean Jones went one better and predicted that the four-time winners will end up in the top-2.

“They are the champions coming off last year. They are a very good squad. Pollard is in form, Rohit Sharma we know what he can do. Jasprit Bumrah, obviously in terms of the bowlers. They have got some good spin options too and powerhouse hitting through the middle order. So, yes they are in my top four.” Brett Lee said.

“They are in my top two. They have got everything at the moment. They have got bangers at the top with Quinton and Rohit Sharma off course, Suryakumar, Ishan and then Pollard and Hardik Pandya, the guys who can finish it off at the death, outstanding. And then they have got Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Co, Rahul Chahar will be very important. Let’s not forget about young Krunal Pandya, I think he is a very very good bowler and they are the championship team.” Dean Jones said.

Mumbai Indians will kick off their campaign against three-time champions, Chennai Super Kings, on September 19.