Mumbai Indians opener Rohit Sharma demonstrated that his thirst for runs is still as strong as ever with a match-defining half-century against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday, a day after fellow veteran Virat Kohli demonstrated that age is just a number.
Before Hardik Pandya took over as captain ahead of the 2024 campaign, Rohit, who turns 39 next month, guided Mumbai to five Indian Premier League (IPL) titles.
Similar to 37-year-old Kohli, Rohit limits his India responsibilities to the 50-overs format, but he has started the IPL with the goal of demonstrating that he is still a match-winner.
“He’s freed himself up,” said coach Mahela Jayawardene after Rohit’s 78 off 38 balls helped Mumbai chase down 221 in a six-wicket triumph in their tournament opener at home.
“He’s thinking much calmer, he’s not the leader, there’s less pressure on him. This happens – it happened to me as well in my last few years when I went and played franchise cricket,” added the former Sri Lanka captain.
“You practise less, but your memory – your muscle memory – it works. And you just go with the flow, you know, what the bowlers are trying to do. And once you’re in that mode, you have that freedom which we’ve noticed in Rohit in the last couple of years. We encourage him to go and do that, and the rest of the team is backing him to do that and I’m quite happy about it.”
After playing in India’s home one-day series against New Zealand in January, Rohit returned for the new IPL season looking more fitter and leaner. Before recording his 50th 50-plus score in the IPL on Sunday, he joined the Mumbai camp early and played in a number of practice games.
“We had a lot of simulations for him, especially to get him going, and I was quite happy the way he was hitting the ball … I thought he batted brilliantly,” Jayawardene said.
Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad handily on Saturday riding on Kohli’s unbeaten half-century.
