"Where is the 800-900 season?" - Former KKR batter's scathing criticism of Rohit Sharma after GT vs MI IPL 2025 clash
Former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Manoj Tiwary slammed Mumbai Indians (MI) star Rohit Sharma for his continued inconsistencies in the IPL after the side's 36-run defeat to the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad on March 29. The 37-year-old fell early to his Indian teammate Mohammed Siraj for only eight in MI's massive run-chase of 197.
This was after Rohit failed to open his account in MI's season opener against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) - a game they lost by four wickets. Despite his incredible record for India in white-ball cricket, Rohit has struggled in the past several IPLs to score big.
The champion batter has enjoyed 400+ scoring seasons only twice in the last eight IPL editions.
Reflecting on Rohit's poor outing against GT in a conversation with Cricbuzz, Tiwary said (Via Hindustan Times):
"Look, it's high time Rohit Sharma got back among the runs. The ability of a player like Rohit Sharma is not 400. Last season, he scored 400, he hit a century, that's fine. But where is the 800-900 season? Rohit is just not able to have these types of seasons. Why does Virat Kohli always score? You tell me. It's equally good. It's equally good, but there should be a season where Rohit scores 600-700."
He added:
"He should take his orange cap with him. That's how it should be. How will it be if you don't get a good start? I expect a lot from him. That's why he was retained. Because of last year's drama and controversy, it felt like Rohit would leave because there were a lot of small audio clips. Despite that, he was retained. But since there were no runs in the last two matches, the atmosphere must have been mixed up."
MI have missed the playoffs in three out of the last four seasons and Rohit's poor form has meant the side has started the 2025 season on a poor note with back-to-back losses.
"When has Rohit Sharma done that?" - Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag echoed Manoj Tiwary's sentiments and questioned Rohit Sharma's lack of big IPL seasons throughout his illustrious career. The 37-year-old is the third leading run-scorer in IPL history with 6,636 runs in 259 outings.
However, he averages under 30 at a strike rate of 131.09 with only one season of over 500 runs and no 600-run seasons in his 17-year IPL career.
"What Manoj Tiwary said about Rohit Sharma, where is that season? Isn't it too late for this type of season to come (laughs)? We are also his fans, but we are just asking where the season of 600-700 runs is. When has Rohit Sharma done that? It has been 18 years, when it has not happened in 18 years, how can you hope for this to happen now when he is at the last part of his career?" said Sehwag (as per the aforementioned source).
MI and Rohit will look to avoid a hattrick of losses to begin IPL 2025 when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their next encounter in Mumbai on March 31.