 "Rohit Sharma brought up his first half-century of IPL 2025 during Mumbai Indians' home game against Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium. AP")
After struggling with the bat in the first half of the 2025 Indian Premier League , veteran opener Rohit Sharma was back with a bang on Sunday as he starred in his team’s dominant nine-wicket victory over arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings with an unbeaten 76. Rohit struck four fours and six sixes during his 45-ball knock, during which he brought up his first half-century of the ongoing season and his 44th overall in the league as MI chased down the 177-run target set by CSK at the Wankhede Stadium in the evening game of the Sunday double-header.
The ‘Hitman’ shard an unbroken 114-run stand for the second wicket with Suryakumar Yadav, who brought up his half-century in 26 deliveries and remained unbeaten on 68 off 30 balls. However, it was Rohit’s return to form after a series of low scores throughout the season that was the biggest talking point from the Sunday double-header.
Speaking to commentator Harsha Bhogle after receiving the Player of the Match Award for his outstanding innings, said keeping things simple and having a “clear mindset” helped him shake off the rust on Sunday.
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More Shorts“After being here for such a long period of time, it’s easy to start doubting yourself and start doing different things. For me, it was important to do simple things and have a clear mindset. It is important, that’s how we want to play and plan our innings.
“It was important for me to hold my shape and extend my arms, and when the ball was in my area, I had to do what I have been doing,” Rohit said after starring in his team’s third win on the trot and their fourth overall in eight outings.
‘You don’t have to worry about Rohit’s form’: Pandya
Skipper Hardik Pandya hailed Rohit and Surya or “taking the game away” from CSK with their partnership, which was the first century stand of the season for MI. The all-rounder, who bowled a couple of economical overs earlier in the day, added that Rohit’s form wasn’t really a matter of concern for the the team, and that a big score was around the corner for the batting icon, who was the MI captain in each of their five title wins.
“The way I think we are playing the sport, we knew it was going to be a high-scoring game and we took the percentage. The way Rohit and Suryakumar bat, it’s a relief from outside. You don’t have to worry about Rohit’s form, when he comes good, we know the opposition will be out of the game and the way Surya batted it was great as well, that partnership took the game away.
“We are sticking to basics. We are playing simple cricket and we are sticking to our plans. On the hindsight yes, the fast bowlers did go for some runs but at the end of the day, 175-180 was below-par. I think we weren’t really far away from a win but we had to put things together,” Pandya said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Dhoni rues CSK’s ‘below par’ score at the Wankhede
CSK skipper MS Dhoni, who returned at the helm halfway through the season after Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out of the remaining games due to an injury, acknowledged the fact that his team had posted a “below par” total at the Wankhede.
The Super Kings were off to a disastrous start, getting reduced to 63/3 in the eighth over despite local lad Ayush Mhatre smashing 32 off 15 balls on IPL debut. It was only after Ravindra Jadeja (53 not out) and Shivam Dube (50) half-centuries and their 79-run stand for the fourth wicket that the ‘Yellow Army’ were able to post a respectable total on the board, even if MI eclipsed it rather easily later in the evening.
“I think we were quite below par, because we all knew that dew will come in the second half and we were in a position to exploit the middle overs. I just felt that Bumrah being one of the best death bowlers in the world right now, I felt once they started their death bowling early, that was the time we should have capitalized and started our slog slightly early.
“And after that even if Bumrah also goes for runs it’s a plus point, I think there were a few overs there we could have got slightly more runs. We needed those runs because 175 with the dew around is not a par score,” Dhoni said after his team suffered its sixth defeat in eight games , leaving them needing a victory in each of their remaining games for them to have a shot at qualifying for the playoffs.
Dhoni also heaped praise on Mhatre, who made an instant impact after arriving at the crease by smashing Ashwani Kumar for a four and two sixes in consecutive deliveries.
“I think as a youngster he batted really well, and that’s the kind of approach that is needed where you play your shots and at the same time you pick your shots that is your strength and I feel right from the start, he went and played his shots and we also haven’t seen him much. So, it is a good sign for us at the top of the order that if he can keep playing the shots, it will become slightly easier for the middle and lower order,” Dhoni added.
Senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the MI bowlers with figures of 2/25 from four overs, bagging the key wickets of Dube and Dhoni along the way. New Zealand left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner was the most economical bowler of the evening, conceding just 14 runs in three overs while dismissing opener Shaik Rasheed.
With their victory over their arch-rivals, MI snapped a four-game losing streak against fellow five-time IPL champions CSK, which included a four-wicket victory at Chepauk on 23 March in what was the season-opener for both teams.