IPL 2022: Got out at 'wrong time' that hurt us, says Rohit Sharma after MI suffer 4th straight loss

Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma admitted that he got out at the "wrong time" and that hurt his side on Saturday in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated MI by seven wickets at MCA Stadium, Pune, handing Rohit and Co their fourth defeat of the season. Batting first, MI suffered a batting collapse as they were 79 for 6 at one point. A half-century from Suryakumar Yadav took MI to 151 in 20 overs.

RCB chased it down in 18.3 overs, with top-order batsmen Anuj Rawat and Virat Kohli playing crucial knocks. Rawat, who was awarded the Player of the Match, scored a 47-ball 66, while Kohli scored 48 off 36 deliveries. Glenn Maxwell, playing his first game for RCB in IPL 2022, smashed two back-to-back fours in the 19th over and sealed the victory for this side.

In a post-match interview, Rohit said that they wanted to "strengthen" their batting but a few overseas players were unavailable. MI fielded only two foreign players in the match despite having the option of playing four.

"Just got 26, I wanted to bat as long as possible, but unfortunately I got out at the wrong time. We were hitting that partnership, we just got off to a 50-run partnership, got out at the wrong time, that is something that's hurting us a little bit," said Rohit after MI's seven-wicket loss on Saturday.

Suryakumar remained unbeaten on 68 off 37 balls. He struck five fours and six sixes and Rohit acknowledged the effort from his middle-order batter.

"Definitely not a 150 pitch, Surya showed us if you bat sensibly, you can get more than what you got. A lot of credit to Surya at least to get us to 150, but we knew that it wasn't going to be enough. We took our chances with the ball but they batted quite sensibly. A lot of areas actually (to address), we want some of our batters to bat as deep as possible. That is one thing we are looking at, if we get runs on the board, there's something for the bowlers to do. In the last two games, we were not able to do that," added MI skipper.

The MI skipper also pointed out that his team is missing a collective effort from both the batting and bowling departments.

"Last game we got 160, this game we got 150-odd, on a pitch like that, it's not enough. When you come up against an opposition like that, it's never going to be enough. I have always spoken of collective performance both from bat and ball, which seems to be missing at the moment. Once that comes through, I think we should be good," said Rohit.

MI are yet to register a win in the ongoing season. This is the third instance of MI losing their opening four games in an IPL season after the 2008 and 2015 campaigns. Notably, MI went on to win the title in the 2015 edition.

Moreover, the only two sides to have not won a single game yet in IPL 2022 are MI and CSK. The two sides have a combined nine IPL titles between them: MI – 5, and CSK – 4.

Rohit and Co have a three-day break before they take on Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Wednesday (April 13). RCB, on the other hand, are set to face off against CSK on Tuesday at DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai.

After losing their opening encounter of IPL 2022, Faf du Plessis-led RCB now have won three consecutive games in the tournament.