Former Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma’s dreadful run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) continued with another mediocre outing on a placid strip against Delhi Capitals on an action-packed Sunday. Rohit and Ryan Rickelton tried to exploit the benign conditions by adopting a belligerent approach against the table-toppers after being put to bat. Rohit showed signs of positivity by clobbering Mitchell Starc in the second over. With two boundaries and a sole six, Rohit looked set for an extended stay on the crease. However, he lost the plot while trying to find the balance between aggression and caution.
The seasoned opener went for a sweep, missed the ball completely and was pinned in front of the stumps. With another failure to his name, Rohit returned to the dressing room with 18(12).
After another flop show, Rohit now has the second-lowest batting average as an opener since IPL 2023 among players who have at least played a minimum of 25 innings.
Since IPL 2023, Rohit has averaged just 24.39 with 805 runs to his name, the second-lowest by an opener. Only Wriddhiman Saha stands ahead of the explosive opener, averaging 20.28 with 507 runs under his belt. In the ongoing season, Rohit has mustered up just 56 runs at a meagre average of 11.20.
After Rohit’s early departure, MI found solace in Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma’s impactful show. Surya and Tilak took their time in the middle, rotated the strike at regular intervals, and adopted a risk-free approach in the middle overs.
Tilak and versatile Suryakumar took on Mohit Sharma in his first over, smashing the seasoned pacer for 14 runs, followed by a six on the first ball of the next over by Suryakumar. The duo added 50 runs in 29 balls, Surya being the aggressor. Both batters combined to garner 17 runs in Vipraj’s 3rd over.
After Suryakumar and Tilak’s dismissal, Naman Dhir arrived at the crease and applied the finishing touches with his quick-fire 38* from 17 to power MI to 205/5.
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