Former Mumbai Indians spinner Harbhajan Singh reckons Rohit Sharma has to come good with the bat in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. Rohit recently scored 400 runs in nine innings of the five Test matches against England at an average of 44.44 and he will continue the good show in the IPL.

Rohit has scored 6211 runs in 243 IPL matches at an average of 29.58 and a strike rate of 130.05. However, Rohit hasn’t been at his best as a batter in the last few editions of the IPL and he would be determined to turn the tables.

Rohit will be playing in the upcoming IPL without any captaincy pressure on his shoulders as Hardik Pandya has been appointed as a new leader. The Turbanator said Rohit will hold the key for MI as a batter.

“Rohit Sharma is selfless, puts the team ahead of his personal ambitions. Team India needs Rohit Sharma, the captain and the batter, to lead the team from the front. Rohit Sharma, the batter, needs to come good for Mumbai Indians, he needs to score those runs for them. Rohit is not a player who will play attacking shots in the first six overs, he has the ability to hit six at any moment of the match,” Harbhajan Singh told Star Sports.

Rohit scored 332 runs in 16 matches of IPL 2023 at an average of 20.75 and thus failed to lead from the front.

Meanwhile, Pandya led Gujarat Titans to glory in IPL 2022 and also led the franchise to the final in the previous season but they could not cross the last hurdle against Chennai Super Kings. Pandya will return to action after recovering from an ankle injury, which he suffered in the ODI World Cup.

Mumbai Indians will begin their IPL 2024 campaign against Gujarat Titans at their home ground of Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on March 24.