[Watch] "Aala re" - Sachin Tendulkar checks into Mumbai Indians team hotel ahead of IPL 2022

Mumbai Indians (MI) mentor Sachin Tendulkar has checked into the team hotel ahead of IPL 2022, which is slated to commence on March 26 (Saturday).

The franchise shared a short clip of the former Indian cricketer entering the lobby of the IPL team hotel in Mumbai. The five-time IPL champion captioned the post as:

"Aala Re! #OneFamily #DilKholKe #MumbaiIndians MITV."

Tendulkar has been associated with the Mumbai Indians since the inception of the IPL in 2008. He represented the franchise until 2013 before taking up the mentor role.

The legendary batsman was also part of the Rohit Sharma-led team which won the IPL and the Champions League in 2013. The 48-year-old former cricketer amassed 2334 runs in 78 games at an average of 34.82, including a century.

Check out the list of IPL winners here.

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"Need to approach IPL 2022 as neutral tournament" - Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma

The Mumbai captain has ruled out any chance of home advantage in IPL 2022, saying that most of the cricketers in the squad have not played in Mumbai.

Incidentally, Rohit & Co are scheduled to play 11 of their 14 games in Mumbai, but the skipper asserted that they need to approach it as a neutral tournament.

Addressing a virtual press conference, the 34-year-old cricketer said:

"It's a relatively new team, a lot of new guys have come in. Seventy to 80% of the squad hasn't played in Bombay before."

He then went onto add:

"Only myself, Surya [Suryakumar Yadav], [Kieron] Pollard, Ishan [Kishan] and [Jasprit] Bumrah have played in Bombay, others have not played [that much]. So there is no such thing as an added advantage. We all are playing in Bombay after two years. In fact, the other franchises played in Bombay last year. We didn't get to play."

Mumbai will begin their IPL 2022 schedule against Delhi Capitals on March 27 at the Brabourne Stadium.