Mumbai Indians are all slated to take on Sunrisers Hyderabad. But since MI are virtually knocked out, there lies the lingering question. Should Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah play in the MI vs SRH encounter? Rohit played as an impact player in the previous game after suffering from a stiff back. Ahead of the mega important ICC T20 World Cup, it imperative that the Indian stars remain in the very best of health.
Should Rohit Sharma play?
Though Mumbai Indians are not officially out of the tournament, it is highly likely that they will make it to the knockouts. In such a case, workload management plays a crucial role. In an ideal scenario, Mumbai Indians should rest former skipper Rohit Sharma for the game.
The Indian skipper is not in great form and could do with a little rest. More importantly, the Indian skipper needs to be 100% fit and rested for the ICC T20 World Cup. In the previous game, Hardik Pandya used Rohit as an impact sub who only came out to bat.
Rest for Jasprit Bumrah?
Jasprit Bumrah tops the purple cap charts with 17 scalps from 11 games. But now that Mumbai Indians is virtually knocked out, there is big chance that the ace speedster should be rested. Given Bumrah’s injury history over the last couple of years, it is highly likely that India’s ace pacer needs some much needed rest.
With less than a month remaining for the T20 World Cup, Bumrah needs to be fit for the tournament. Given India’s injury concerns (No Mohammed Shami) and lack of pace options, Bumrah is the only saving grace for the Men in Blue.
Franchise vs National Team
The Indian Premier League is a franchise oriented tournament. With teams having invested and spent crores on their stars, they will be keen to extract every ounce of performance from them. However, given that the T20 World Cup is on the horizon, the franchises need to ease on their expectations and rest the National Team stars.
