Rohit Sharma's 3 best moments from IPL 2024
Former Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Rohit Sharma was in the news much before IPL 2024 began, as he was sacked as the skipper of the franchise and replaced by all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Rohit and MI fans were not too pleased with the decision and expressed their disapproval both before the tournament began and during it as well.
With all that had transpired heading into the season, there was plenty of intrigue over how Rohit would perform in IPL 2024. As it turned out, he had a rather middling season by his standards, while Mumbai Indians, as a franchise overall, were disastrous. It wasn't surprising then that they finished last in the points table, with only four wins in 14 matches.
Speaking of Rohit's numbers, he ended the season with 417 runs in 14 matches at an average of 32.08 and a strike rate of 150, with one hundred and one fifty. Although he had an underwhelming season, there were a few memorable Hitman moments in IPL 2024.
We pick three of the best:
#3 Rohit Sharma's brilliant diving effort to stop a boundary
Despite his stellar T20 record, there have been some question marks over Rohit's place in the Indian T20I squad.
He has been named the captain for the upcoming World Cup that will be played in the West Indies and the USA from June 1 to 29. Among the main concerns of some fans and critics is that the 37-year-old is a slower mover in the field and could be a liability.
Rohit, though, answered critics with his impressive fielding show in IPL 2024. One of his standout moments came in Mumbai Indians' last league match against Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede in Mumbai on May 17.
He came up with a spectacular diving effort to save a boundary. Rohit's superb effort was appreciated with a huge cheer from the home crowd.
On the last ball of the 16th over of Lucknow's innings, Romario Shepherd bowled a juicy full toss to opposition skipper KL Rahul.
The right-handed batter came up with a nice square drive, hoping to get a boundary. However, Rohit, positioned at backward point, dived to his right and stopped the ball, denying the batter any runs for his impressive stroke.
#2 Hitman's super straight 6 to reach a fifty
While Mumbai Indians came up with another disappointing effort in their last league match of IPL 2024 against LSG, Rohit ended his campaign on a high. Set to chase 215 for victory, MI finished on 196-6, with the veteran opener top-scoring with 68 off 38.
The right-handed batter struck 10 fours and three sixes in his fantastic innings. One of his standout strokes was the maximum he hit to reach his half-century. At the end of the powerplay, Mumbai Indians had raced to 53-0, with Rohit batting on 39 off 23.
The opener hit the first two balls of the seventh over for fours and clubbed the fifth one for a six to reach his fifty. LSG's left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan bowled a length delivery on middle, and Rohit came down the track to loft it straight down the ground, into the sight screen for a maximum.
The MI legend's fine knock ended when he got an outside edge to a tossed-up delivery from leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi.
The mistimed hit was taken at short third man by Mohsin. Rohit walked off to a standing ovation, with fans unsure of whether they will ever see their hero in the Mumbai Indians jersey again.
#1 When the former skipper set the field during MI vs SRH match
There was a nostalgic moment for Mumbai Indians fans during their team's IPL 2024 clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on May 27. Although he was no longer the captain of the MI franchise, Rohit was seen setting the field, trying to help out skipper Pandya, as SRH batters went totally berserk.
In a clip that went viral, the former captain was seen moving the field around and even directed Pandya to go towards the boundary. Incidentally, in the previous match, a video of Pandya sending Rohit to the boundary had also gone viral.
Things did not go according to plans for Mumbai Indians in the game, though. Batting first, Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 277-3 and held MI to 246-5. Mumbai lost the game by a comprehensive margin of 31 runs.
However, fans did walk back with the fond memory of Rohit turning back the clock and briefly taking charge of the team that he led to five title wins.