Rohit Sharma's horror run is adding to Mumbai Indians' mounting troubles in IPL 2025.
MI's former captain endured another failure when he perished for 17 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Monday.
MI suffered a 12 run defeat -- their fourth defeat in five matches this season.
No longer a guaranteed place in the playing XI, Rohit was brought in as the Impact Player, replacing spinner Vignesh Puthur in the 15th over of RCB's innings. He had missed the previous match against Lucknow Super Giants due to injury.
Chasing a daunting 222 for victory, Rohit started off aggressively, smashing Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a six over square leg in the opening over.
RCB Captain Rajat Patidar made a sharp tactical move, handing the new ball at the other end to left-arm pacer Yash Dayal -- well aware of Rohit's struggles against left-arm pacers.
The ploy worked perfectly!
Rohit smashed Dayal for two successive boundaries before the bowler had the last laugh. He produced a beauty -- getting the full delivery to jag in sharply as Rohit attempted a big swing across the line but missed the ball completely to be bowled through the gate for 17.
This was the fourth failure in a row for Rohit, following scores of 0, 8 and 13 in his previous three games. He has managed just 38 runs in four matches at an average of 9.50.
Having lost the MI captaincy last season, the pressure is mounting on Rohit to retain his place in the XI.
If his lean patch continues, MI may be forced to make the bold call of dropping the man who led them to a record five IPL titles.
His struggles stretch beyond the IPL. In the Test series in Australia in December-January, he scored only 31 runs across five innings, which saw him make the shocking call to drop himself from the playing XI for the fifth Test in Sydney, while calls for his exclusion from the Test side have only continued to grow.
Rohit did silence some critics by leading India to the ICC Champions Trophy title last month. He struck a match-winning 76 in the final against New Zealand, though his form through the tournament had been patchy.
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