"Not What He Was 3-4 Years Ago, Still Relying On Natural Talent": Rohit Sharma Gets Reality Check

Former India player Sanjay Manjrekar has painted a grim picture of Rohit Sharma's current form, saying "things are slipping away" from the senior batter who has reached a point in his career where he has to "push himself every morning". The Mumbai Indians star has flopped in the first two matches of the ongoing Indian Premier League, getting out for eight in the team's latest game against the Gujarat Titans on Saturday.

"Rohit Sharma is clearly going through a phase. He's not the Rohit Sharma of, say, three to four years ago. He's at a stage in his career where he has to push himself every morning — train hard and be at his best — because things are slipping away for him. He's still relying on his natural talent and instincts," Manjrekar said on JioStar.

MI lost the game to GT by 36 runs.

Analysing Mumbai Indians' performance with the bat in the last two matches, Manjrekar said, "Ryan Rickelton, being a South African, will take time to adjust to Indian pitches. Very few South African batters, barring AB de Villiers and Heinrich Klaasen, have truly flourished on Indian pitches. So, we'll have to give him time.

"Apart from that, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav, along with Robin Minz and some of the other players, form the batting line-up. However, to me, it still looks a little unconvincing. And a lot of them rely on pitches where the ball comes onto the bat nicely.

"There's pace and bounce, and even in that chase where they needed 12 or 13 runs, if it had been at Wankhede Stadium, they would have likely come very close to the target."

Manjrekar, however, remained optimistic about the Mumbai Indians' campaign despite their early losses. Set a challenging target of 197, MI were stopped at 160 for six on Saturday.

"Mumbai