Mumbai dressing room always believed in Rohit and Hardik, says Pollard

Skipper Hardik has benifitted from Rohit’s tactical inputs and exploits at the top of the order.
| Photo Credit: K.V.S. GIRI

Mumbai Indians batting coach Kieron Pollard has stressed that the dressing room never lost faith in Rohit Sharma’s ability with the bat and Hardik Pandya’s captaincy.

“We always had that belief that he’s (Rohit) going to come good. There are dips, there’s low confidence. But for someone who has played this sport for a long time, you have these moments and sometimes you just need that extra support from people,” Pollard said on Saturday.

“Now, we are singing his praises; we are all very happy. In the Mumbai dressing room, we were happy at the start as well, knowing that it was going to happen and long may it continue so the headlines are going to be about that.”

Rohit’s consecutive fifties – a first since IPL 2016 – have been instrumental in elevating MI into top-four over the last week.

Similarly, Hardik has also appeared much settled this IPL after facing flak all through the 2024 edition.

“He is enjoying cricket, as we have all seen from international cricket, (from) winning World Cup to Champions Trophy to everything. It’s (about) an individual that has gone through a lot,” Pollard said.

“For me personally, not getting in too much depth, it’s great to see a human being that has been challenged in different facets – of not only cricket but of life – come out and continue to show what cricket and what winning means to him.”

“We are all human beings in this world so sometimes we need to give a bit of leeway to some individuals at certain time.”