Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher confirmed the availability of skipper Rohit Sharma and premier pacer Jofra Archer for their opening match of IPL 2023 against arch-rivals Royal Challengers Bangalore at MA Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Rohit didn’t attend the captain’s photoshoot ahead of season opener in Ahmedabad which raises doubts over his fitness for the RCB clash on Sunday.
However, head coach Boucher assured that Rohit is 100 per cent available for the match and he just fell a bit unwell on the day of the captain’s photoshoot and he missed it as a precautionary measure.
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“Yes, Rohit is fit. He has trained the last two days and is 100 per cent ready to go. I think he didn’t feel particularly well that morning and just as a precaution, we told him to stay at home," Boucher said at the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
“There are a lot of photo shoots the boys have had to do. He’s not had a lot of time to himself so we thought it was better," he added.
Boucher also confirmed that Archer, who was signed by Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022 auction, will be playing on Sunday.
“Jofra is good, he is 100 per cent ready for tomorrow. He didn’t train today, it was an optional training session. He felt that he was ready to put the spikes on tomorrow. We are very happy with his progression since he has been with us. He’ll be playing tomorrow."
The onus to lead the bowling attack will be on Archer in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah who has been ruled out of the tournament.
The five-time champions had a poor last season where they finished 10th but Boucher doesn’t want to look back as he wasn’t in charge back then.
“I can’t comment too much about last year I wasn’t there. But we have spoken about it, some new talents in the team, new energy, some guys who have done really well in the previous IPLs.
“They understand that last year we didn’t have a good season but things can change very quickly, energies have been good, we are in a good space." “If we get off to good start great, if we don’t we’ll definitely not panic. The IPL is not won in April or March, it’s won in May. Hopefully, we can get a good start and get some momentum."
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