Pacer Dhawal Kulkarni joins Mumbai Indians squad
Frustrated by the unending struggle of its pacers, Mumbai Indians have brought in seasoned campaigner Dhawal Kulkarni, who may be considered for the remaining IPL games if he does well in the training sessions.
According to IPL sources, the 33-year-old right-arm pacer has joined the team's bubble and will start training soon.
Kulkarni was part of the commentary team of the official broadcaster before being approached by the five-time champions.
Mumbai's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has conceded 229 runs from eight matches and has managed to take just five wickets.
The other pacers have also struggled badly this season. The performances of left-arm pacers Jaydev Unadkat (six wickets and 190 runs conceded from five matches) and Daniel Sams (six wickets and 209 runs conceded from five matches) have been pretty ordinary.
Unadkat was taken to task by legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the game against Chennai Super Kings, when he failed to defend 17 runs.
Pacers Tymal Mills (six wickets and 190 runs conceded from five matches) and Basil Thampi (five wickets and 152 runs conceded from five matches) haven't also put in exceptional performances.
Riley Meredith was also used in two games, but he conceded 65 runs and took just three wickets.
A Mumbai Ranji Trophy regular, Kulkarni also has experience of playing the IPL. He has featured in 92 matches and taken 86 wickets after making his debut, way back in 2008.
Kulkarni has mostly played for Rajasthan Royals and he has also played quite a number of games for Mumbai Indians and also for 'Gujarat Lions'.
Mumbai Indians are already out of the race for the play-offs after losing eight games on the trot.
Robin Singh backs struggling Kishan, Rohit to come good in remaining games
Mumbai Indians batting coach Robin Singh backed his out-of-form skipper Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan to find their touch in the remaining matches of IPL 2022.
Kishan, who was bought by the five-time champions for Rs 15.25 crore, started well but soon suffered a slump in form and has so far failed to justify his price-tag.
The Jharkhand dasher has managed to score just 199 runs from eight matches at an average of 28.43.
"We've addressed a few things that we feel that he (Kishan) can improve on. Obviously it's about getting better during the course of the game," Robin said at the virtual pre-match press conference ahead of their game against Rajasthan Royals.
"As you know, he (Kishan) started very well. But he fell away a little bit. We sort of revisited the entire tournament, we addressed a few things and we're hoping that he'll get back the same sort of form that he started with," added Robin.
Rohit is also battling a prolonged lean patch and has managed just 153 runs from eight outings, averaging 19.13.
But Robin was confident that the star opener would come back strong.
"As a batsman you need to address what you think is important to you. I think he's (Rohit) put in a lot of work. We've spent a lot of time with him, at the nets, at the ground. And I think like Ishan Kishan, we have addressed what he needs to do."
"As an individual, as a batsman, as a senior batsman, he knows his responsibility. So that is something he has put his hand up for and I'm pretty sure he'll come back very strongly," said Robin.
Mumbai Indians are already out of the race for play-offs after losing eight games on the trot.
