Amid all the discussion regarding whether players should take part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) ahead of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup or not, Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma believes that playing in the IPL ahead of a big tournament helps players to get back in form.
"I feel that the guys who played the IPL and go to play in those big tournaments right after that, they are very much in touch with their game. Before IPL if they were not in good form, this is the time they can get in form," Sharma told reporters on Saturday.
"There have been instances in the past, that in 2013, we played IPL and then we went on to play Champions Trophy and we won the Champions Trophy," he added.
Earlier in the tournament, keeping the World Cup in mind, Delhi Capitals pacer Kagiso Rabada was called back home by Cricket South Africa. However, while backing his opinion, the 32-year-old gave an example of Hardik Pandya who he thinks has got his form back after playing in the IPL.
"Hardik is the best example, he did not have a good time a few months before the IPL started, he was injured and missed a few games as well. But he has done tremendously well for us in terms of batting and bowling," Sharma said.
When asked about players' workload management ahead of the quadrennial tournament, Sharma replied that it was the players' discretion whether they want to participate or not.
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"Speaking of the workload management, we spoke at the start of the tournament that we will assess each one of them and see where they are at and what they feel about their body. It is more an individual thing than what we decide for them," he said.
"Like in the case of Jasprit (Bumrah), he is someone who likes to play games to make sure that he is in good rhythm. At the start of the tournament we spoke that at any given stage if he feels he need to rest, we were open for it," Sharma added.
Mumbai Indians will be facing Chennai Super Kings in the IPL final on May 12.