The moment Rohit Sharma struck the first of his six sixes last evening, something looked different about him. Of course, that he’s lost weight and looks a lot leaner is no longer a secret. But this is a version of him the world hadn’t witnessed in a long time, especially in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It took Rohit just one match to show glimpses of his strong past, when a 25-year-old him would grab the bull by its horns and go berserk. The type that saw him become the first player in history to smash three ODI double-centuries. That’s how good Rohit was.
The effortless sixes, the timing, the running between the wickets, and clean striking were some of Rohit’s standout features from last evening, when he belted 78 off 43 balls against the Kolkata Knight Riders at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, helping the Mumbai Indians win by six wickets and end their unwanted 14-season streak. Rohit bludgeoned sixes – against a bowling attack comprising the likes of Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine, who are not easy to pick – highlighting his dominance even further. Rohit’s blitzkrieg reminded Anil Kumble of his days of yore, with the India legend optimistic of many more such outings.
Kumble impressed
“Rohit Sharma seems to have arrived in his 2.0 avatar, and his innings showed he is ready to dominate again. The way he hit the ball all around the ground reminded me of his prime. It is not easy to hit sixes against bowlers like Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine and Blessing Muzarabani, but he made it look easy,” Kumble said on Star Sports.
Rohit is down 15 kilos from last year, when he looked at sixes and sevens in IPL 2025. Mind you, Rohit hasn’t played a single T20 match since last year for MI, and to bat in the way he did, let alone in the first match of the season, makes Kumble all the more confident that this is just the start.
“He has worked a lot on his fitness, and when you come back after a short break, it takes five to seven days to get your timing back and find your rhythm. This was a fantastic innings, very similar to what we have seen at Wankhede, where he takes on the bowlers from the first ball. The six-hitting looked easy, and even though the boundaries were small, those shots were going into the stands. This knock shows that Rohit means business, and this version of him will worry all IPL teams,” Kumble added.
