Rohit Sharma may have faced challenges in scoring runs for the Mumbai Indians, yet in the last two matches, he has demonstrated why the franchise continues to rely on him. On Sunday, Mumbai achieved only their second victory of the season, defeating the Delhi Capitals by 12 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, thanks to a strategic move by Rohit that ignited their success in the latter half of the match.

Delhi appeared to be on track to chase down the target of 206, buoyed by an impressive performance from Karun Nair, who was making his first IPL appearance in three years. He delivered a rapid fifty off just 22 balls, marking his first half-century in the league in seven years, as Delhi reached 135 for two in the 12th over.

Although Mumbai managed to take a couple of wickets in quick succession, it was insufficient to halt Delhi, who still had the resources to remain competitive. Tristan Stubbs and Ashutosh Sharma demonstrated their capabilities in the lower order, showcasing their talent for finishing games even under pressure. Nevertheless, Rohit had different strategies in mind.

At the beginning of the 14th over of the chase, Rohit, who was in the dugout at the time, instructed Karn Sharma to request a change of ball. Under the new IPL regulations implemented this season, bowling teams in night matches are permitted to change the ball after 10 overs to mitigate the effects of dew.

Consequently, Mumbai opted for a new ball, and Karn made an immediate impact by dismissing Naman Dhir with his third delivery of the over, followed by the removal of in-form KL Rahul shortly thereafter. Despite Delhi's earlier momentum, scoring over 11 runs per over, they could only manage 22 runs in the next 24 balls. Vipraj Nigam posed a late threat to Mumbai, but Mitchell Santner halted his progress in the 18th over, and Mumbai ultimately sealed the victory with three consecutive run-outs in the 19th over.

In the previous week’s match against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium, where Rohit was not included in the playing XI, he had similarly signaled the bowler to employ a slower delivery against Nicholas Pooran, resulting in the dismissal of the West Indies star.

Rohit's batting woes continues

In  five games this season, Rohit scored just 56 runs at 11.20. He has yet to score more than 20 runs in an innings in IPL 2025. Since 2023, he averages only 24.39 in the IPL, the second lowest for an opener (min. 25 innings).

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