IPL 2023: Rohit Sharma Calls For Workload Management In T20 League, Mumbai Indians Coach Mark Boucher Says THIS About Resting Captain

In the season’s first media conference ahead of Mumbai Indians’s first game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on April 2, Rohit said that he will open to ‘resting’ a few players if the ‘situation demands’.

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In a year in which India host the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023, all the talk in the buildup to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season is about workload management of Indian cricketers. Mumbai Indians (MI) are the most successful franchise in the history of IPL, having won the title five times, but their skipper Rohit Sharma is now also calling for workload management of cricketers looking at Team India’s packed international calendar.

In the season’s first media conference ahead of MI’s first game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on April 2, Rohit said that he will open to ‘resting’ a few players if the ‘situation demands’. “We need to adapt to the situation if needed. If we need to rest a couple of players, we’ll do that. We’ll see how the tournament progresses – if situation demands giving someone a break, we’ll do that,” Rohit Sharma said during a media conference in Mumbai on Wednesday (March 29).

MI’s new head coach Mark Boucher, in his first season as coach in IPL, agreed with skipper Rohit Sharma. “Rohit is the captain of this side, we’ll adapt to situation when it arises. If he (Rohit) can rest for a couple of matches, we will do that as well,” Boucher said.

Rohit (on Bumrah) : "He is a big miss. But it's an opportunity for the youngsters in the team."#OneFamily #MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians #IPL2023 #TATAIPL

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 29, 2023

‘Jasprit Bumrah Absence Is Opportunity For Others’

MI have already been dealt a huge blow with their spearhead Jasprit Bumrah already ruled out of the entire IPL 2023 season. Bumrah will be missing the entire T20 league for the first time in his career after undergoing a back surgery.

“Our bowling attack is an unknown quantity. Missing Bumrah is a big loss for the side but it also gives big opportunity to the youngsters. We have a couple of spots open for youngsters like Kumar (Kartikeya) to come into the side,” MI head coach Boucher said.

After missing the entire IPL 2022 due to injury, MI will finally have the services of England pacer Jofra Archer, who has been sensational in the IPL in the past for Rajasthan Royals. “Jofra is coming back from a major injury. Hopefully he will be able to kick start IPL 2023 with a bang. He will be playing a practice match tonight and let’s see how he turns out in that,” Boucher said about Jofra Archer.

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‘Arjun Tendulkar Is Recovering From Injury’

There is speculation that with Bumrah out with injury, a spot finally opens up for all-rounder Arjun Tendulkar, son of legendary Sachin Tendulkar, to finally make his IPL debut. However, Boucher revealed that Arjun is still recovering from injury.

“Arjun is coming back from a injury and he has played a lot of cricket over the last six months. When he is available for selection it will be good for us,” Boucher revealed.

Meanwhile, skipper Rohit was looking forward to the new innovations which will be coming up in IPL 2023 including the role of ‘Impact Player’ and announcement of playing 11 after toss. “The new innovations in IPL are quite interesting, I especially like the idea of ‘Impact Player’ coming up. We are lucky that we’ll be playing our 1st game after most of the other teams have played, so we’ll get some idea how they are adapting to changes,” Rohit said.