Rohit gives pep talk to struggling Mumbai Ranji team

Senior India player Rohit Sharma on Tuesday gave a pep talk to the Mumbai Ranji Trophy team, which has suffered back-to-back defeats at home. Mumbai lost to Railways first by 10 wickets at the Wankhede Stadium and was then thrashed by domestic heavyweights Karnataka at the Bandra-Kurla Complex ground by five wickets on Sunday.

A source in the Mumbai team, who was present on the occasion, said India's limited-overs vice-captain "spoke to the Mumbai Ranji team on how to overcome the current situation" at the suburban BKC facility. Rohit, who has been rested for the current T20 series against Sri Lanka, had watched the second day's play between Mumbai and Karnataka on Saturday for a brief while.

He comes to the BKC for training and had batted in the nets on Sunday. Mumbai coach Vinayak Samant, bowling coach Pradeep Sundaram and team manager Ajinkya Naik were also present on the occasion.

The 41-time domestic champions will take on Tamil Nadu in an away game at the M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from January 11. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who is traveling to New Zealand with India A squad, won't be available for the game.

In the combined Group A and B standings, Mumbai is languishing at the 13th spot as of now, having won one game and lost two. Only five teams from combined A and B Group can make to the knockouts.