Rohit Sharma has clear plans for his fitness and form: Jayawardene

New Delhi: Rohit Sharma Didn’t miss any practice sessions mumbai indians team. He kept his head down and mainly focused on perfecting his defensive skills during the Nets game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday afternoon. He didn’t play booming percussion on the ground.Rohit is still 26 days away from turning 39, but the 15kg he has lost has made him look younger and almost unrecognizable. He is clearly on a mission to prove his worth as an international-level cricketer, although his place in the Indian team for the 2027 ODI World Cup has been closely watched. The journey started with honest conversations with the Mumbai Indians management last year.

“He has a clear plan for his fitness. Some of our members are involved in his training and he works hard to reach a level that he is happy with,” Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayewardene said Friday.“Although he didn’t play much competitive cricket, he did a lot of skills training in the off-season. He joined us from the first day of the camp and we discussed how to start. We had several simulations and practice matches. For someone as experienced as him, a lot will come down to muscle memory and understanding of the situation,” he added.A major issue around him is his lack of cricket in a year after retiring from Tests and T20Is. He put those worries to rest with his explosive 38-ball 78 in MI’s first match against KKR.“Rohit’s situation is slightly different as he hasn’t played much cricket. He took a few months to focus on his fitness and then resumed skill training. Since he was in Mumbai, he used our facilities as much as possible but largely he knew what was best for him. He has stayed focused and relaxed and his presence has been very positive for the team. When I watched him in the nets, he looked very good with his hands – his hand speed was very good,” Jayawardena said.The true test of Rohit’s endurance, ability and fitness will depend on his consistency in scoring runs during the long IPL season.