IPL 2023: Rohit Sharma says MI had an 'off-day' as a batting unit after six-wicket defeat to CSK

Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma said his batting unit had an ‘off-day’ after the team’s six-wicket loss to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in an IPL 2023 match at Chepauk on Saturday. Having been asked to bat first, most of the MI batters failed to step up and had to rely on Nehal Wadhera’s 51-ball 64 to post a meagre 139/8 from 20 overs. What’s more worrying for MI is Rohit Sharma’s form, after he was dismissed for a duck on Saturday. MI tweaked their opening combination, with Cameron Green opening with Ishan Kishan instead of Rohit with Kishan. “We didn’t bat well enough, didn’t put enough runs for the bowlers to defend. We had an off-day as a batting unit. We just did what we felt was comfortable (on him going down to 3), needed an Indian batter to bat in the middle overs against spin after unfortunately losing Tilak Varma, but we lost three wickets for just 16 runs,” said Rohit after the match. CSK’s Matheesha Pathirana finished with figures of 3/15, taking his tally to 10 wickets this season. Skipper MS Dhoni felt that the Sri Lankan was more suitable for white-ball cricket. “I would prefer him (Pathirana) not to play red-ball cricket and play all the ICC tournaments, he would be a great asset for Sri Lanka. He was slightly lean last season and has added muscle this season,” said Dhoni. Pathirana, Player of the Match, expressed happiness on his performance this season so far. “My journey with CSK started from last year, I came in as a replacement and played only two games, but this season I am playing more and I am happy. They (team management) give me a lot of confidence. This is my best bowling figures in T20 cricket and I am happy with the performance,” said the 20-year-old.