Follow UsRohit Sharma for India and Rohit Sharma in the Indian Premier League (IPL) are two completely different batters. The opener from Mumbai has had only one 500-plus season in 18 years and has once again started the IPL 2025 on a poor note.
The Mumbai Indians (MI) batter got out for a duck against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) before scoring 8 off 4 against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad on March 29 (Saturday). Rohit slammed Mohammed Siraj for back-to-back boundaries in the first over but was knocked over by a superb inswinger from the right-arm paceman.
"Look, I'm telling you, I don't want to be tough, but I must be. For some players, you have to be. Look, it's high time Rohit Sharma got back among the runs. The ability of a player like Rohit Sharma is not 400. Last season, he scored 400, he hit a century, that's fine. But where is the 800-900 season? Rohit is just not able to have these types of seasons,” former India player Manoj Tiwary told Cricbuzz.
“Why does Virat Kohli always score? You tell me. It's equally good. It's equally good, but there should be a season where Rohit scores 600-700. He should take his orange cap with him. That's how it should be. How will it be if you don't get a good start? I expect a lot from him.
“That's why he was retained. Because of last year's drama and controversy, it felt like Rohit would leave because there were a lot of small audio clips. Despite that, he was retained. But since there were no runs in the last two matches, the atmosphere must have been mixed up.”
Adding more, former India opener Virender Sehwag said, “What Manoj Tiwary said about Rohit Sharma, where is that season? Isn't it too late for this type of season to come [laughs]? We are also his fans, but we are just asking where the season of 600-700 runs is. When has Rohit Sharma done that? It has been 18 years, when it has not happened in 18 years, how can you hope for this to happen now when he is at the last part of his career?"
MI, who have lost their first two fixtures, are next playing Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on March 31. Rohit averages close to 40 against KKR and would want to turn things around against his favourite opponent.