As Mumbai Indians took the field for their fifth game of the tournament against Punjab Kings, the fans were elated to see their captain finally crack a half-century. Despite coming close to the magical threshold on a couple of occasions, he was unable to break himself free from the chains to reach that sacred line.
Mumbai was in hot waters early in the game as Deepak Hooda got the better of Quinton De Kock, returning him to the pavilion for a paltry 3 runs from just five deliveries. Despite a few nurdles and nudges from Rohit and Ishan Kishan in the following few overs, Ravi Bishnoi brought out the bunny from his hat to remove an uncomfortable Kishan for a modest 6 from 17 deliveries.
The defending champions were spotted slowly lulling into sleep if not for a sudden surge of brilliance from the captain. Rohit Sharma took control of the reins and started carving a few beautiful strokes to lead the overhaul.
Suryakumar Yadav was not seen deploying his dynamic stance early in the game and that indicated that it had to be the skipper to lead the revolution. Sharma was wary in his initial approach but managed to shift gears in no time as someone had to steer the ship for the defending champions.
After a few nicks and defensive strokes on the front foot, things got out of control for the Punjab bowlers as Sharma took over proceedings in rampant fashion.
Not the usual dynamic hitter that we know him to be, he placed himself on a modest scale with a few exquisite strokes and picture-perfect timings which brought out the very best in the Indian vice-captain. He garnered a scintillating 63 from 52 balls before Mohammad Shami got the better of him with an absolute peach.
Twitter was happy to see their captain raise his bat for the first time in IPL 2021 as he rode roughshod over the Kings.
Rohit Sharma is the second leading run-scorer in #IPL2021 and he played all matches so far at Chepauk.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 23, 2021
In a tough Chepauk wicket, Rohit Sharma showed the class – fifty from 40 balls including 4 fours and 2 sixes – Captain leading from front for #MI. pic.twitter.com/WD1u3wIBMM
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 23, 2021
Fifty by Rohit Sharma, after getting starts in all of the games of the season, tonight he finally converts it into a fifty. Need to finish it on a high to take Mumbai Indians to a formidable score. pic.twitter.com/oCWxrRbqUb
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 23, 2021
#rohitsharma #RohithSharma @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/FRMI45fMvF
— Dishant Bhardwaj (@BhardwajDishant) April 23, 2021
Well deserved half century Rohit Sharma Hitman ? Ishan Kishan out early by Ravi Bishnoi. Rohit Sharma out by Mohammed Shami? Pollard & Hardik Pandya Krunal Pandya needs magic ?#RohitSharma#RohitBirthdayCDP#MIvPBKS #PBKSvMI#Hitman #MI #IPL2021#MumbaiIndians #OneFamily pic.twitter.com/5n6xJ5scf5
— Ashutosh Srivastava ?? (@kingashu_786) April 23, 2021
3 30+ Scores in 4 innings on this difficult Chepauk pitch ,
2nd highest run scorer in this #IPL2021But but Rohit Sharma is weakest link in MI ..#PBKSvMI #RohitBirthdayCDP
— RAJESH SAMAL (@RealRajeshSamal) April 23, 2021
Great inning on tough track ??#cricroz #ipl #mivspbks #rohitmantra #rohitsharma #mipaltan #unite2fightcorona #un #unitedkingdom #unicorn #unhas #unsignedartist #unsung @ Chennai, India https://t.co/M83AbnBuNX
— CricRoz (@cricrozofficial) April 23, 2021
Rohit Sharma is the second leading run-scorer in #IPL2021 and he played all matches so far at Chepauk#RohitSharma
— シ︎ (@FanboyofPK) April 23, 2021
Rohit sharma in Chennai in #IPL2021 :
Inns : 5
Runs : 201
Avg : 50.25
S/R : 132.23
Consistency matters ???
Slipper shot for everyone who has said Rohit cannot contribute with bat#RohithSharma @ImRo45 #PBKSvMI #RohitBirthdayCDP #MumbaiIndians pic.twitter.com/7db8qxWnGM
— Jon | Michael | TyRRRion ? (@tyrion_jon) April 23, 2021
https://twitter.com/Prabhas__Addict/status/1385617945158504457?s=19
