Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra believes Rohit Sharma’s poor form remains a concern for the Mumbai Indians ahead of their IPL 2025 clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday. In five innings of IPL 2025, Rohit has returned with scores of 0, 8, 13, 17, and 18 and thus has failed to deliver the goods for the five-time champions at the top of the order.
Chopra reckons MI haven’t been able to get their playing combination right as Rohit has been getting dismissed cheaply. MI has managed only two wins in six matches they have played, and they would want Rohit to return to his absolute best.
“Mumbai’s big problem is that the batting order is not getting set properly, and it is because Rohit Sharma is not scoring runs. If Rohit Sharma doesn’t score runs, the batting order starts creaking. You don’t understand whom to send when. Ryan Rickelton, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma are batting decently,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“Naman Dhir is batting very well, and Hardik Pandya is also in form. Will Jacks hasn’t scored any runs thus far. You pushed him down the order in the last match, but since Rohit Sharma is opening and he is not in form, Naman Dhir goes too low. Rohit Sharma needs to score runs because if he doesn’t, I don’t know how Mumbai will manage him for the entire season,” he added.
The renowned commentator urged Rohit to take his time and not play with an ultra-aggressive approach from the get-go.
“Rohit Sharma is a very big player and bats incredibly well, and I would once again say that when the good times didn’t last, the bad times won’t as well. However, he will have to give himself a little time, because, as of now, he is continuously hitting shot after shot. He was batting well in the last match, but got out there too,” he observed.
On the other hand, the former KKR player expects Trent Boult to bowl decently with the new ball in Wankhede.
“The bowling looked slightly better in the last match. I expect Trent Boult to do better with the new ball here, although he hasn’t performed as well this year as you expect him to. Jasprit Bumrah got hit decently in the last match, when Karun Nair ran after him, even though he came back strongly in the last over,” he said.
Chopra said MI’s bowling is not looking as lethal as it used to be in the past.
“However, there too, Ashutosh Sharma played a scoop shot. What is happening? The bowling is not looking as lethal as we had thought it would be. What’s there on paper is not being seen on the ground. That is a problem,” Chopra observed.
MI would look to come up with a collective show against SRH.
