Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma is available for selection for the Mumbai Indians playing XI for our game against Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. MI are in red hot form and will be eyeing their fourth consecutive win in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019. The boys will also want to put on a magical performance on ESA day and make it memorable for 21,000 underprivileged kids who will be in the stands at the Wankhede to cheer on their favourite stars as part of MI’s Education & Sports for All initiative.

Ahead of the clash against Rajasthan, MI’s Director of Cricket Operations, Zaheer Khan spoke to the media at the pre-match press conference. Zaheer was quick to confirm that Rohit is fit and raring to play. “Well, you can look at him at the practice today. He is definitely available for selection and he is very confident right now so that's a very positive sign for us. Obviously, he is going to practice and get a better gauge of things, but we are pretty confident,” he said.

Renowned for thinking on his feet in his playing days; Zaheer lauded the progress our pace ace Jasprit Bumrah has made and spoke about how the 25-year-old is a thinking cricketer. “He is planning things and when he is approaching the nets and the matches, he is right up there. If you see how he has progressed in the last four or five years, there's a clear indication that he's a thinker of the game and he is always trying out things. He is making use of all the resources available to him. Right from talking to the senior bowlers to making use of the technology, watching videos, talking to batsmen so he is pretty good with his processes,” Zaheer explained.

Zaheer’s also been impressed with Alzarri Joseph’s temperament. "Well you have seen him at the press conferences isn't it? He's got a very calm head on his shoulder, very balanced guy, doesn't like to show his emotions much. And you've got to give credit to Rohit as well because he was very keen on adding him to the setup. He has obviously played him at some stage and seen him and he was very clear that he is someone who will be a good fit in our group and when the opportunity was there, we decided to bring him in and he has responded brilliantly,” he said.

“He's had a dream debut and has a long road of success ahead of him, so we hope that he continues with his performances. He's a very good athlete and a young talent and we surely have benefitted with him being around in the squad and you have the likes of (Lasith) Malinga in the squad as well,” the 2011 World Cup winner added.

Zaheer then elaborated on how the spinners have performed this season and what role they may play in the game against Rajasthan. “Well there is huge competition going on between the best spinners (in the IPL) I would say. You know who you have, and we like to focus things around our group. Shreyas Gopal for sure has seen success (for RR) in IPL, getting the best of the batsmen out. So, I am sure our batsmen are very keen and up for the challenge which RR will be bringing to the table tomorrow. Obviously, it is an afternoon game, so you would expect spinners from both the sides to be in play.”

He continued: “I am very confident about Rahul Chahar as well, he has been bowling superbly. He has had a great domestic season. He has got everything and most importantly he has the wicket-taking ability in those middle overs. So, that phase of the game is very crucial, even in T20 as well. Wicket-taking especially after the powerplay, if you can have that kind of dent, that kind of impact in the middle overs that’s what we are expecting from Rahul Chahar as well. Also, Krunal (Pandya) has been responding well, so that phase is going to be a very important because it is a day game tomorrow.”