Former Indian cricketers Manoj Tiwary and Virender Sehwag have voiced their concerns over Mumbai Indians’ Rohit Sharma after he managed just another single-digit score in the ongoing IPL 2025. Mumbai Indians suffered a significant 36-run defeat against Gujarat Titans, marking their second consecutive loss in the tournament.
Sharma’s IPL journey has been rocky this season. After being dismissed for a duck by Khaleel Ahmed in the opening match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), he showed some promise against Gujarat Titans, hitting two boundaries in the first three balls. However, a precise delivery from Mohammed Siraj that swung back in ended his innings prematurely.
Over the past five IPL seasons, Sharma has only crossed the 400-run mark once, a stark contrast to his early IPL years when he was one of the league’s most feared batsmen. He has recorded six single-digit scores in his last nine IPL innings, highlighting his current struggles at the crease.
Manoj Tiwary, visibly concerned about Sharma’s inability to achieve a season tally of 600-700 runs, remarked, “Look, I’m telling you, I don’t want to be tough, but I must be. For some players, you have to be. Look, it’s high time Rohit Sharma got back among the runs. The ability of a player like Rohit Sharma is not 400. Last season, he scored 400, he hit a century, that’s fine. But where is the 800-900 season? Rohit is just not able to have these types of seasons. Why does Virat Kohli always score? You tell me. It’s equally good. It’s equally good, but there should be a season where Rohit scores 600-700.”
Tiwary also alluded to the controversial captaincy change last season when Hardik Pandya took over the captaincy from Sharma, leading to significant fan backlash. “He should take his orange cap with him. That’s how it should be. How will it be if you don’t get a good start? I expect a lot from him. That’s why he was retained. Because of last year’s drama and controversy, it felt like Rohit would leave because there were a lot of small audio clips. Despite that, he was retained. But since there were no runs in the last two matches, the atmosphere must have been mixed up,” he added.
Virender Sehwag, another former India opener, also weighed in on Sharma’s recent performances. While expressing his admiration for Sharma, Sehwag seemed doubtful about the possibility of Sharma achieving a 600-700 run season at this stage of his career. “What Manoj Tiwary said about Rohit Sharma, where is that season? Isn’t it too late for this type of season to come (laughs)? We are also his fans, but we are just asking where the season of 600-700 runs is. When has Rohit Sharma done that? It has been 18 years, when it has not happened in 18 years, how can you hope for this to happen now when he is at the last part of his career?” Sehwag questioned.
Following their defeat to Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians find themselves languishing at the ninth position in the points table. Their next challenge will be against the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on Monday. With the season just beginning, Sharma and his team will be eager to turn their fortunes around and climb up the IPL standings.