Mumbai Indians fans had a pressing question—why has Rohit Sharma been used only as an impact player this season? The answer has finally come. MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene confirmed that the Indian skipper has been carrying a niggle since the Champions Trophy earlier this year. Though Rohit played a pivotal role in India’s win in that tournament, the after-effects of a knee blow during an earlier IPL match against LSG have lingered. Jayawardene revealed that the decision to limit Rohit's field time wasn't the original plan. Ahead of MI's match against Gujarat Titans, Jayawardene addressed the press, and said, "No, it wasn't at the start. Obviously, Rohit was on the field for some of the games, but if you look at the composition of the team, most of the guys are doing dual roles and in some of the venues you need boundary runners. You need guys with speed and all that, so that also comes into play and Rohit has also been nursing a niggle from the Champions Trophy, so we wanted to make sure that we don't push him too hard, manage that, while his batting is the most important thing." That explains why the opener often walks in late—usually just before MI’s bowling ends. Rohit has missed at least one game this season due to the same issue. Even so, he’s scored 293 runs in 10 matches, showing signs of form in recent outings. Read also: Cummins removes Karun Nair on the first ball of the match with a beauty Despite injury, Rohit remains MI’s anchor off the field Injury might have reduced Rohit’s time on the turf, but his leadership is still shining. Jayawardene stressed that the Hitman has remained deeply involved in strategy and player support. The MI coach said, "But he's contributed tremendously whether he's on the field or not. I think if you've seen like he's always ground in the dugout or he goes in during timeouts and there's a lot of communications been happening so actively involved, but it's just overall planning for us to make sure that we have all the bowling options that we need on the field. And we have a lot of senior heads as well. Most likely to be taken out would be either a Surya or a Tilak or someone like that, a domestic batter, so it's a hard choice for me, but it's a good headache to have." As MI chase playoff hopes, managing their skipper’s fitness might be the make-or-break factor. Rohit may be nursing pain, but he’s still the brain behind MI’s battle plan.