Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has raised concerns regarding Mumbai Indians’ opener Rohit Sharma’s form in the ongoing IPL 2025. Rohit was dismissed after scoring only 13 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday despite his team chasing a below-par score of 117.
Rohit has returned with scores of 0, 8, and 13 in the first three matches of the tournament. In fact, the veteran has crossed the 20-run mark on a solitary occasion in the previous 10 IPL innings, managing only 141 runs.
Before IPL 2025, Rohit scored 180 runs in five matches of the Champions Trophy, including a match-winning knock of 76 runs in the final against New Zealand.
“I am slightly worried about Rohit Sharma, and you too should be, because it’s been three knocks now. One or two knocks – okay, but three knocks – not okay. He even played 12 balls this time, scored 13 runs off 12 balls,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
The renowned commentator said Rohit will need to score runs for MI if they have to advance in the tournament.
“He wasn’t in control of the shot he played. The body opened up, the ball hit the bottom of the bat, and he was caught at mid-off. It was (Andre) Russell’s first over and the last over of the powerplay. Rohit needs to score runs. How will Mumbai progress if Rohit Sharma doesn’t score runs?” he observed.
On the other hand, MI’s other opener Ryan Rickelton scored a match-winning knock of 62 runs off just 41 balls with the help of four fours and five sixes against KKR.
“Ryan Rickelton, his bat needed to talk. The guy is actually made for Wankhede only because the pitch is good. There is a slight South African feeling in this pitch. You can play your strokes properly and smash the bowlers. Him scoring runs was very important for this team,” he said.
The former KKR player expressed his disappointment at Harshit Rana’s spell, who tried to take the pace off the ball despite the swing on offer.
“Harshit Rana disappointed me a little. When the ball was moving a lot, why did you have to bowl so many slower ones? He bowled a no-ball and slower ones and unnecessarily got hit for a six off a full toss. So I found that slightly disappointing,” Chopra observed.
Mumbai Indians will next take on Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Friday.
