Rohit Sharma's injury fears back ahead of T20 World Cup 2024: ‘Facing mild back stiffness….’

Rohit Sharma walks back to the pavilion after his dismissal during the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 cricket match between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium

Rohit Sharma is all set to lead India’s 15-member squad at the T20 World Cup 2024, which is scheduled to kickstart on June 1 in the United States. The Indian skipper continues to play the role of aggressive opener as he provides India and Mumbai Indians with some strong openings. Rohit Sharma is also known for his brilliant fielding skills, and his absence from the field against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday raised some eyebrows.

MI captain Hardik Pandya introduced Rohit Sharma as an ‘Impact Player’ during the team’s batting, but he couldn’t make much impact with his 11-run inning. The fans wondered about the reasons behind his absence from the field, and later, veteran spinner Piyush Chawla revealed that Rohit Sharma was facing mild stiffness in his back.

“He just had a mild back stiffness, so it was just a precautionary thing,” Piyush Chawla said while speaking to the media at the Wankhede Stadium after the MI vs KKR IPL 2024 match.

While there is no official update about Rohit Sharma’s fitness, the Indian skipper has been facing back issues for a while now. During the final India vs England Test match, Rohit Sharma took a day off from the field due to a stiff back, and pacer Jasprit Bumrah led the team in his absence.

Rohit Sharma’s concerning T20 form

Rohit Sharma’s form has been a constant cause of concern in the T20 format of cricket. While the opener is playing some wonderful innings in the ODI and Test formats, Rohit Sharma is unable to regain his rhythm in the shortest format.

In the current season of IPL, Rohit Sharma’s performance has been inconsistent as the MI opener has one century to his name, but that was his only 50+ score in IPL 2024.

Senior players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli remained away from the T20 format after being knocked out of the T20 World Cup 2022 but made a comeback during the India vs. Afghanistan series at the beginning of this year.