Mumbai Indians Break Silence On Using Rohit Sharma As Impact Sub: "Need Guys With..."

The decision to use Rohit Sharma as an 'impact sub' was not a pre-meditated one but it was taken since the team felt the need to have players who could bowl and be quick in the field, Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene said on Monday. Jayawardene said Rohit was also carrying a niggle from India's victorious campaign in Champions Trophy. "No, it wasn't at the start. Obviously, Ro (Rohit) was on the field in some of the games," Jayawardene said during MI's training session when asked if it was the plan since the beginning to the season.

"But if you look at the composition of the team, most of the guys are doing dual roles; most of them are bowling. At the same time, some of the venues need boundary runners, you need guys with speed and all that so that also comes into play.

"Ro was also nursing a niggle from the Champions Trophy so we wanted to make sure that we don't push him too hard, and we have managed that while (his) batting is the most important thing," he added.

Jayawardene said Rohit has otherwise contributed “tremendously” both on and off the field.

"If you've seen, he's always been around in the dugout, or he goes in during timeouts, and there's a lot of communication that's been happening, so actively involved." Jayawardene acknowledged MI has been benefitted from Rohit and Ryan Rickelton finding success as an opening pair.

"For any team, the openers do play a very valuable part in establishing the innings and especially with the batting lineup that we have, the way we build when we get a good start, it always complements to that," he said.

"It's just that even though Ro, probably (in) the last few years, he hadn't (had) those big scores but he was trying to give us that impetus as well -- even though