Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene revealed how Rohit Sharma got ready for the IPL 2026 after making a flying start to the ongoing season. Rohit, who last played a T20 game during last season's IPL, didn't look like he had skipped a beat with the way he took on the KKR bowlers.

The former MI captain scored 78 off just 38 balls, hitting six sixes and six boundaries during his knock. With Rohit now just being a one-format player for India, the 38-year-old has put a lot of focus on his fitness in the build-up to the IPL.

Talking ahead of the DC game, Jayawardene doffed his hat to Rohit for creating a plan and vision in terms of the fitness level that he wanted. The MI coach said that Rohit went through a lot of simulations to get ready for the new season and took part in all of the practice games.

"Well, I think credit to him. He had a plan, vision. A few of our guys who are in our setup was involved in this training that he wanted to do to get to a fitness level that he was comfortable with, he knew that he needed to do."
"Even though he hasn't played competitive cricket, he did quite a bit of skill work off-season whenever he had the time. And then he joined us on our day one camp, and we had a chat about how we wanted to start. We did a lot of simulations. We had quite a few practice matches that we played. So he was part of all that," said Jayawardene.

MUSCLE MEMORY AND HAND SPEED

Jayawardene said that Rohit's good form is also down to muscle memory kicking in. The MI coach said that Rohit's hand speed looked to be pretty good in the net sessions.

"For someone who has played the game for such a long time, it's in muscle memory, it's in how you wanted to go about and. They will react much better out there in the middle in situations, and even though he didn't have competitive cricket behind him. I knew when I watched him batting in the nets that he was in pretty good nick."

"The hand speed was pretty good and how we wanted to approach and it was a good start for him, in the first game, and hopefully he can continue that. I feel it's been tough, the tournament, but, uh, he's focused, he's relaxed, um, you know, he's contributing in a very positive way in the camps, which is great for us," said Jayawardene.

MI broke their opening match jinx and will hope that Rohit can help them score a win against DC on April 4 in Delhi.

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