Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene has revealed how Rohit Sharma has prepared for IPL 2026 after making a flying start to the ongoing season. Rohit, who last played a T20 game during last year’s IPL season, it didn’t look like he was going to jump with the way he faced the KKR bowlers.
The former MI captain scored 78 off just 38 ballsand hit six sixes and six boundaries during his knock. With Rohit now only a one-format player for India, the 38-year-old has been focusing a lot on his fitness in the build-up to the IPL.
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Speaking ahead of the DC game, Jayawardene took his hat off to Rohit for creating a plan and vision in terms of the fitness level he wanted. The MI coach said that Rohit went through a lot of simulations to prepare for the new season and participated in all the practice games.
“Well, I think credit goes to him. He had a plan, a vision. A couple of our guys that are in our setup were involved in this training that he wanted to do to get to a fitness level that he was comfortable with, he knew he had to do it.”
“Even though he didn’t play competitive cricket, he did quite a bit of skill work in the off-season whenever he had time. And then he joined us in our camp on the first day and we talked about how we wanted to start. We did a lot of simulations. We had quite a few practice matches that we played. So he was part of it all,” Jayawardene said.
MUSCLE MEMORY AND HAND SPEED
Jayawardene said Rohit’s good form is also due to the muscle memory kicking in. The MI coach said that Rohit’s hand speed looked quite good in net practice.
“For someone who’s been playing the game for so long, it’s in the muscle memory, it’s how you wanted to go and. They’re going to react a lot better down the middle in situations, even though he hasn’t had competitive cricket. When I watched him hit the nets, I knew he had a pretty good nick.”
“The hand speed was pretty good and we wanted to get closer to that and it was a good start for him, in the first game and hopefully he’ll continue that. I feel like it’s been tough, the tournament, but, uh, he’s focused, he’s relaxed, um, you know, he’s contributing in a very positive way in the camps, which is great for us,” Jayawardene said.
MI have breached their opening match and will be hoping that Rohit can help them win against DC on April 4 in Delhi.
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Published on:
03 Apr 2026 16:23 IST
