Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that Rohit Sharma’s batting has been boosted following the decision of the Ajit Agarkar-led selectors to strip Sharma of the captaincy of the Indian national cricket team. On Monday evening, May 4, Rohit Sharma played a match-defining 84-run knock off 44 balls to help Mumbai Indians secure a rare win against Lucknow Super Giants in the ongoing Indian Premier League season.
Gavaskar believed that he was watching him closely Sharma’s game has improved over the last yearone by one, he was stripped of the white ball captaincy for both India and his IPL side. He based this opinion on Sharma’s catches against Australia during India’s white-ball tour down under, along with his IPL run-scoring.
“I have been watching Rohit Sharma closely for the last one year. Ever since he was dropped as captain in white-ball cricket and IPL, he has focused more on batting,” Gavaskar said on JioStar. “The change in his game is clear: he now wants to hit deeper and leave more of an impact.”
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All this in complete awe of Rohit Sharma. pic.twitter.com/7P3pGoTZpP— Rohan (@rohann__45) May 4, 2026
This happened after Sharma, who was injured for about four matches, i.eimmediately supplied for his franchise, who are fighting at the bottom of the table.
“In this 84-run knock, we saw all the typical shots of Rohit Sharma. The pull shot was on display. The short balls disappeared into the stands. The full deliveries were driven through the cover area. He also soared over the long shots with ease,” he added. “Against left-arm spinner M Siddharth, he played down the ground and hit against the curve. We saw a focused Rohit Sharma against LSG.”
Mumbai Indians still have an outside chance of qualifying for the play-offs after securing six points from ten matches. “If he continues this form, Mumbai Indians will damage the playoff hopes of many teams in the remaining matches,” he added.
Whether it dents other teams’ playoff hopes or not, with Rohit Sharma back in the lineup and firing, Mumbai Indians have certainly regained a sense of direction and belief. They next play Royal Challengers Bengaluru at their new home in Raipur on May 10.
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Published on:
May 5, 2026 4:02 PM IST
