Former Indian off-spinner R Ashwin has disapproved of the belief that the Mumbai Indians are overly dependent on Rohit Sharma in IPL 2026.
The five-time champions have had an ordinary start to the season, winning their opening game for the first time in 14 years before losing their next two games on the road. They return home to the Wankhede Stadium to take on the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
“Mumbai are not dependent on Rohit. Sorry, I broke your pride. They are not dependent on Rohit. Mumbai have a really good batting unit. I think what is letting Mumbai down is their bowling. Their spin department is not firing, and they are not able to support Bumrah as well. Their opening bowlers are letting them down slightly as well,” R Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Rohit recently celebrated 15 years playing for the Mumbai Indians. The former Indian skipper is the second-highest run-scorer in the IPL with 7,164 runs. He is the skipper with the joint-most title wins in IPL history, having led the Mumbai Indians to their five titles.
In 2026, Rohit put on a masterful display against the Kolkata Knight Riders, scoring 78 runs off just 38 balls while being involved in a 148-run opening stand with Ryan Rickelton in a chase of 221. Rohit has followed this up with scores of 35 and 5 in his next two outings.
Speaking ahead of the clash, Ashwin questioned whether RCB would replace the underperforming Phil Salt with his compatriot Jacob Bethell.
“If there is one thing I want to see from RCB is whether they would consider replacing Phil Salt with Jacob Bethell? It is a tempting option. Phil Salt is not looking all that great that he was looking last year. It could be be confidence as well? If MI win, the table will really open up, and also after the LSG-GT game, it will be interesting to see how the table shapes up.The first week of IPL was not that great, I did not like it. Now it is getting hot,” Ashwin concluded.
The sides meet for the first time in 2026. The Mumbai Indians have won just two of the last seven clashes between these two teams.
