IPL 2022: Rohit Sharma takes blame as MI nearly out of playoffs contention

Mumbai Indians are almost out of playoffs contention in the IPL 2022 after losing to Lucknow Super Giants. Meanwhile, skipper Rohit Sharma has taken the blame for it.

Image credit: BCCI

It has been a turbulent ride for the record five-time former champion Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 2022 Indian Premier League. On Saturday, it suffered an 18-run defeat to new side Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. As it is nearly knocked out of the playoffs contention, skipper Rohit Sharma has taken the blame.

Rohit has been in an unstable form with the bat, scoring just 114 runs from the six matches at a poor average of 19.00 and a strike rate of 129.54. He was also questioned for not opening the bowling with his prime bowler Jasprit Bumrah while defending his strategy. However, he felt that the defeats would help shape the team better in the coming games.

"If I know what's going wrong, I will correct it, but it's not coming off. I'm trying to prepare myself in the way I prepare for every game. That is no different. It's not coming off. I take full responsibility for not putting the team in the situation of what they expect from me. I back myself to go out there and enjoy the game and doing what I have been doing all these years," said Rohit after the defeat.

"There's no particular reason to it [Bumrah not starting]. We try and put the team before the individual. We always try to keep Bumrah for the back end, and it didn't work out. He bowled pretty well, but the others need to pull up their socks slightly," Rohit explained.

Image credit: Getty

Lastly, he hailed LSG skipper cum opener KL Rahul for batting brightly. "I think KL batted brilliantly. That is something missing from our team. Wanted someone in our top four to bat as long as possible, which is not happening," he concluded.