In the loss against Pune, Mumbai Indians might have found Rohit Sharma’s elusive batting form

Rohit Sharma’s team lost on Monday night and he also got fined 50% of his match fee for showing dissent at an umpire’s decision. The defeat also brought their six-match winning streak to an end. It seems like a pretty bad day to be the Mumbai Indians skipper.

But the Mumbai Indians shouldn’t mind it at all because in that defeat, they just might have found Sharma’s missing batting from.

This season has been a bit of an anomaly for Sharma’s — who has been one of the IPL’s most consistent batsmen. In every IPL season since 2008, the Mumbai skipper has scored more than 350 runs but this year, after 8 matches, he has just 112 runs in his tally. Of these 112, he scored 58 in a vintage knock against Pune and almost took his side to victory.

Given that Mumbai are siting pretty on 12 points, getting Sharma back among runs in vital ahead of the Qualifiers. And against RPS, that is exactly what happened.

Sharma the batsman returns to form

Sharma’s profile lacked runs in the IPL this season. His scores before he took the field was 3, 2, 4, 0, 40* against Gujarat and 5. A total of 54 runs in six games. However, against Pune, he smashed 58 runs in 39 balls. He was back to his sublime best as he tore into Pune’s attack.

He even sent spinner Imran Tahir on a leather hunt striking him for 23 runs in the 15 balls that he faced. Before this knock, he fell to five spinners —- Rashid Khan, Amit Mishra, Imran Tahir, Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine — for 15 runs.

In his knock of 58, he struck three sixes and six fours. “It was good to get some runs, but disappointing not to finish the match. Jaydev bowled a great last over. It takes a lot of courage; he got a wicket in the first ball, which is always critical. Needing 17, you can’t lose a wicket off the first ball,” said Sharma.

Injury and the comeback 

Sharma last played for the India against New Zealand way back in October 2016 during which he injured his thigh. The injury saw him missing the rest of the international season. He had to undergo surgery and then extensive rehab. He was expected to make a return in the last two Test matches against Australia, but the BCCI retained the squad which played in the first two Tests. Sharma finally returned to field during the Vijay Hazare Trophy in March. However, he could only manage scores of 16 vs Andhra and 4 vs Goa in the two matches that he played. He was then ruled out of the Deodhar Trophy due to a knee injury. After being declared fit for the IPL, he struggled to get back to his best.

Right time to get back on track

With Sharma getting his act together in the business end of the tournament, Mumbai are in pole position to win their third IPL title. If you go by numbers alone, Sharma is the most successful captain in IPL history with a win percentage of 61.53%. He has three IPL trophies and one Champions league trophy to prove it as well. He won his first title with Deccan Chargers in 2009. In the ongoing season, Sharma rallied the team to six-match winning streak, their best run in the tournament till date. However, his form was their only major concern. Now, with his sublime knock of 58, Sharma has got it all together for Mumbai.

As teams gear up for the business end of the tournament, Mumbai need their best batsman to come good. Sharma has scored more than 3000 IPL runs at a strike rate of 131 and his average run aggregate for Mumbai is a staggering 475. In the ongoing edition, he has 112. With six matches to go in the group stage, one can expect fireworks from Sharma. He is a class player and will want to win the title for a record fourth time.