Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma has revealed that he has opted to stay at home during Mumbai Indians’ home matches in the ongoing IPL 2024. This decision marks a departure from his previous practice of staying with his teammates at the team hotel.
In a recent interview, Rohit explained that he prefers to stay at home when matches are held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. He arrives at the stadium an hour before team meetings and spends the rest of his time with his family.
“I am staying at home actually. The last four matches Mumbai Indians played here (Wankhede), I was staying at home. Just going an hour before when we have the team meeting. It’s been good, a little different but good,” Rohit said on the Club Prairie Fire podcast.
Rohit also shared his views on the Impact Player Rule introduced in the IPL this season. He expressed concerns that it could hinder the development of young all-rounders.
“I genuinely feel it is going to hold back the development of all-rounders because eventually cricket is played by 11 players, not 12. So I am not a big fan of the Impact Player Rule because you are taking so much from the game just to make it a little more entertaining for the people around you. But just in the cricketing aspect of it, I feel guys like Washington Sundar, and Shivam Dube are not getting to bowl, which is not a good thing for us (India),” Rohit said.
While acknowledging the entertainment value of the rule, Rohit emphasized that it could compromise the integrity of the game.
“It is entertaining though, as there are 12 players to select from and whoever that Impact player is, can see how the game is going and change it based on what you need, and how the pitch is behaving. If you bat well and don’t lose too many wickets, you can add a bowler, which gives you the option of having 6-7 bowlers. You don’t need that extra batter because a lot of the teams upfront are batting well and you hardly see No. 7 or 8 coming to bat,” he added.
