Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma revealed on who will come out to bat alongside him in this year's IPL. "I will open the batting. I have been doing that in the past so I'm looking forward to open with Ishan Kishan," said Rohit during a virtual press conference.
Kishan, while is a middle-order batsman, has normally opened for the side when the first-choice players are out injured. Asked to give his opinion on Rohit's idea, head coach Mahela Jayawardene said: "I think both are a good combination up top and Ishan is also a wicketkeeper, and there are few who can bat in the top-three."
Over the years, the defending champions have used different opening partnerships and in the preceding season, Sharma had opened the batting alongside South Africa's Quinton de Kock. However, de Kock will be playing for Lucknow Super Giants this season.
On the new bowling attack, Sharma said that though Tymal Mills and Jaydev Unadkat are fresh recruits to the team, they are not new to the game. "They have played the game for a number of years now and they know what needs to be done. It's just that our role will be critical as to how we give them the understanding of what they need to do for us as a team," Rohit said.
"They have played for different franchises and countries, where they had different roles. For us, that will be a challenge and we are working with these guys. We are trying to give them a role clarity as to what we are expecting from them and what sort of role they need to play here," he further added.