CHENNAI: When Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to bowl first against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday, there was a sense of cautious optimism amongst the MI faithful at the Wankhede Stadium. The five-time winners are notorious for having bad starts in the IPL, and this time, that facet of the team has been spoken about more than before.
And it only grew as Ajinkya Rahane and Angrish Raghuvanshi — two Mumbaikars from different generations — take centrestage for Kolkata. First, it was the veteran in Rahane, whose place in the side and choice as captain came under the lens, who stepped up with 40-ball 67. Next came Raghuvanshi, touted as the future star from the city of dreams, who smashed 51 off 21 balls as KKR finished with 220/4 in 20 overs. Just briefly, it seemed like Mumbai were back in a familiar setting where they start the season with a loss thanks to two batting stars from the same city.
Then the arena saw Rohit Sharma, rather possessed. A leaner, meaner version of the 38-year-old took over the Wankhede in the way only he can, as he rushed to 51 in 23 balls. This version of Rohit underwent some significant changes in fitness post IPL 2025, including weight of around 15 kgs. He also took up an intensive fitness regime for three months, focusing on high-intensity endurance drills and working on core strength. And the transformation was evident weeks before he took the field for MI on Sunday.
Ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup semifinal between India and England at the same venue, Sharma, who was the tournament ambassador, could be seen talking to Brendon McCullum, who quips 'where's the rest of you?'. In the video shared by ICC, Sharma replies instantly with a smile: "All gone."
And it all showed on Sunday once again. Beginning at 12 off eight balls, the veteran rolled back the years with crowd-favourite pull shot off Vaibhav Arora and a few exquisite shots off the lanky Blessing Muzarabani. Both the bowlers brought the pace on, and Rohit did nothing but guide it high in the Mumbai night sky. He continued to pile miseries on the KKR bowlers, just like he did over the years in the IPL. Before Saturday's match, Rohit had scored 1083 runs against this opposition, one-seventh of the total runs he has made in this tournament.
After the early onslaught, spinner Varun Chakravarthy was given the ball in the fifth over. Before this match, Rohit striked at less than 100 against Chakravarthy. For the mystery spinner from Tamil Nadu, a wicket of Rohit would help his confidence by leaps and bounds, after a less-than-satisfactory T20 World Cup. But he came nowhere close to it. Rohit welcomed him with a beautiful shot over the covers for four. And soon came the fifty, his fastest in the IPL. His knock was also part of a record opening stand for Mumbai Indians with Ryan Rickleton (147) at this ground.
Though he eventually fell for 78 off 38, by the time Rohit took the long walk back to the dressing room, he had done his job. But that was not all he did. The 38-year-old, once again, showed the world that he is not going anywhere till the 2027 ODI World Cup.