Muristek
Mumbai, March 23
Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma has said the team will have no special advantage of playing their IPL matches in the city's three grounds as many players in the "relatively new" squad have not played a single game in the city in last two years.
The IPL begins on Saturday when Chennai Super Kings take on Kolkata Knight Riders.
"I hope you saw the auction, relatively new team, lot of new guys have come into the team," Sharma said at a virtual press conference. "So I don't believe in added advantage because these guys, like lot of the guys 70 (or) 80 per cent of the squad has not played in Bombay before. So there is no such thing as added advantage."
The league phase of the IPL will be held in Mumbai and Pune. MI have been playing their home games at the Wankhede Stadium since the start of the tournament in 2008.
"Only myself, Surya (Suryakumar Yadav), (Kieron) Pollard, Ishan (Kishan), (Jasprit) Bumrah have played in Bombay a lot. Others have not played, so there is no such thing as added advantage," Sharma added.
"We all are playing in Bombay after two years, we have not played a single game in Mumbai... In fact the other franchises have played in Bombay last year, we didn't get to play, so no advantage," he maintained.
Suryakumar still in rehab
Sharma also said that batter Suryakumar Yadav is still undergoing rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and would join the team after getting a clearance from there.
"Surya is at NCA at the moment, he is recovering well, he will be here soon and I can't give you his availability now, whether he will be available for first game or not... But we are trying to get him as soon as possible, once we have the clearance from the NCA," said Sharma.
He also made it clear that he and Ishan Kishan would open the batting for the five-time champions. "I will open the batting... Been doing that in the past, so I am looking forward to open with Ishan," he said. — PTI
'Rule changes good'
Rohit Sharma welcomed the move to have two DRS reviews per innings in the IPL. "Having two DRS is also a good rule, because fewer mistakes in the game, the better it is. In international cricket we play with two DRS, so it should be there in the IPL, so I think it is a good move to bring two DRS by the IPL," said Rohit. Referring to 'Mankading' (ie, non-strikers getting run out while backing up too far when the bowler is bowling), Sharma said: "Look, that (Mankading) has become legal, so batters will need to pay more attention, when to come out of the crease and when not... The rules have come and we need to follow them." Sharma also approved of the rule change whereby a new batter must face the next ball after a striker is caught out but has crossed to the non-striker's end. "I think it is a good rule, the new batsman should face (the ball) if the batsman gets out," he said. "It is important that a bowler is bowling in good rhythm and he gets a wicket, a new batter faces him, especially when he catches out."
Pak-origin Moeen's visa delayed
New Delhi: Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will miss the services of Moeen Ali for their first match of the IPL as the star England all-rounder is yet to receive his India visa. "It is almost certain that Moeen Ali will miss the first game. He has still not got the visa. Hope it is sorted in a day or two," CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan said. "They follow set procedures for players with Pakistan descent. That looks like the reason (for the delay)." Ali's grandfather migrated to England from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir but he himself was born in England and is a frequent visitor to India. CSK will also miss star pacer Deepak Chahar, who has been ruled out of the first half of the IPL due to a right quadriceps injury.
25% crowd allowed in stadia
New Delhi: The 15th edition of the IPL will have 25 per cent crowd attendance in stadia. A statement from the organisers said that this edition of the IPL "will welcome fans back to the stadiums after a brief hiatus owing to the pandemic". "The matches will be played with an audience occupancy rate of 25% as per Covid-19 protocols," the statement added.