Rohit Sharma hit back-to-back fifties in his last two outings in IPL 2025. Mumbai Indians (MI) batting coach Kieron Pollard has showered praise on opener Rohit Sharma after the latter made a strong comeback to form in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. After struggling with low scores in his early matches, Sharma played match-winning knocks for MI in their last two games. Most recently, the right-handed batsman smashed a crucial half-century to lead MI to victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
In the previous encounter against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Sharma remained unbeaten on a half-century, guiding MI to another win. However, the former MI captain had a tough start to the season, with scores of 0, 8, 13, 17, 19, and 26 in his first six matches.
Praising Rohit Sharma: Kieron Pollard Reflects on the Captain’s Form
Ahead of MI’s home match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Mumbai Indians’ batting coach Kieron Pollard expressed his admiration for Rohit Sharma’s recent batting performances. However, he also shared that he had always been confident that Sharma would find his form again.
“If my memory serves me right, at the beginning of this tournament, the question around him was different. I said right here that we would be singing his praises as an individual. We’ve always believed that he would come good. There are dips, moments of low confidence, but for someone with so much experience in this sport, these phases are part of the journey,” Pollard remarked.
Notably, Pollard had stood by Sharma at the start of the season when the MI captain struggled with the bat in the opening matches. He had urged people not to judge Sharma based on a few low scores. Now, Pollard mentioned that everyone in the MI camp is celebrating Sharma’s form, with the team’s dressing room in high spirits.
“Sometimes, all you need is that extra support from people. Now we are singing his praises. We are all very happy in the Mumbai dressing room. We were confident from the start that it would happen, and we hope it continues,” the former all-rounder added.
IPL Mumbai Indians have been on a strong run lately, with four consecutive wins in their last four matches. In their most recent game against SRH, they successfully chased a 144-run target with seven wickets in hand. Earlier, they secured a commanding nine-wicket victory against CSK, chasing down a 177-run target. Sharma has now accumulated 228 runs in eight games, with an impressive strike rate of over 150.
Sharma ranks as MI’s third-highest run-scorer, behind Suryakumar Yadav (373 runs) and Tilak Varma (233 runs). In terms of wickets, Hardik Pandya and Trent Boult have been the standout performers. With five wins and four losses from nine matches, Mumbai Indians are currently in fifth place on the standings.
Surprisingly, MI had a rough start to the season, losing four out of their first five matches. Their next encounter is against Rishabh Pant-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Sunday, April 27, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai for IPL 2025’s match No. 45.