Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene has opened up on the possibility of playing Rohit Sharma as an impact player yet again in IPL 2026. The five-time champions were criticised a lot by many for using their former captain as an impact player last season. However, their head coach has now revealed that the star player was struggling with a few niggles and his workload had to be managed carefully then.
Moreover, he has also confirmed that Rohit won’t be playing as an impact player this season and will spend more time on the field as well. Notably, the 38-year-old is looking extremely fit as well, even as he is aiming to play the ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia next year. “Ro… the way we managed him last year… He had a few niggles so we just needed to manage that.
“The thing is he’s still making a huge impact on the team whether he’s on the field or not. But, definitely, this year, I want to keep him more on the field as much as I can. But the thing is when we are rotating the bowlers or the impact player, at which point that impact player is coming and if all other players need to be on the field at that time [needs to be considered],” Jayawardene said in a media interaction.
Jayawardene hints at Rohit playing as an impact player due to match situationsย
However, Mahela Jayawardene also hinted that Rohit Sharma might end up playing as an impact player in some matches during IPL 2026 as he is one of the only two players, the other being Suryakumar Yadav, who do not bowl as most of the other players in the team are all-rounders. “If you look at it, most of our guys are all-rounders, and they vdo bowl as well. So if the captain needs that option on the field, it’s something that I have to look at and discuss depending on the opposition that we’re playing.
“The 2 guys who are not all-rounders at the moment are Rohit and Surya (Suryakumar Yadav). So, can you help me with that decision-making process?” Jayawardene concluded.
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