Rohit Sharma is one of the greatest players in white-ball cricket. He has scored nearly 4,231 runs in T20 internationals, the most by any Indian player. For more than ten years, he was India’s first-choice opener in limited-overs cricket, until he retired from T20 internationals after winning the T20 World Cup on June 29, 2024.
What surprises many fans is that, despite being such a legend and a future Hall of Famer, Rohit Sharma has not been able to match the same success in the IPL.
He is the second-highest run-scorer in IPL history with 7,056 runs, but he has never finished as the tournament’s top run-getter.
In fact, across 18 seasons, he has crossed 500 runs in a season only once. His career strike rate in the IPL is 131.84, which is often considered below par for a top-order T20 batter — especially since he has played most of his matches at the Wankhede, a ground known to favour batting.
To understand this better, let’s look at his career in the IPL. In the 2023 season, during Match 49 against Chennai Super Kings, Rohit Sharma made a bold decision as captain. He moved himself down to No. 3 so that young players like Ishan Kishan and Cameron Green could open the innings.
This wasn’t the first time he did this. Back in 2018 and 2019, he also pushed himself down the order to give opportunities to Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav. That move paid off in the long run — today, Suryakumar Yadav is India’s No. 1 ranked T20 batter and also the captain of the T20 side.
A similar moment came in 2024 when India toured South Africa. Tilak Varma asked captain Suryakumar Yadav if he could bat at No. 3 instead of him. SKY agreed and moved down to No. 4. Tilak went on to score 280 runs in that series, the most by an Indian in any bilateral T20I series. That’s what good captains do — they put the team first and create space for young players to shine.
This is why Rohit Sharma is respected as a modern-day great.
He has been the face of Mumbai Indians for 15 years and one of the most successful captains in IPL history. As a batter, his IPL record may not look as remarkable as his international career, but he has always stepped up when the team needed him most.
A perfect example is the 2015 final against Chennai Super Kings, where he scored a quick 50 off 26 balls to help MI win the title.
CREATED BY NEWSNET INTERN AKASH. AKASH KUMAR IS A STUDENT OF ST. XAVIER’S COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY, PATNA
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