When Rohit Sharma retired from T20Is last year after the T20 World Cup triumph, he finished as the highest run-getter in the format ever — with 4231 runs to his name at an average of 32, including five tons and 32 fifties. Out of those 3750 runs came at the opening slot for India. Legendary stuff! But then the picture changes quite dramatically when it comes to the IPL, especially in the last few years, where runs have been hard to come by, at a slower pace, and rather inconsistently.
Rohit Sharma’s Dwindling Numbers as MI Opener
Come the IPL, in 105 innings where he has opened, his returns have significantly come down. The 37-year-old has scored 2769 runs at an average of 27.97 with just one ton and 15 fifties, at a strike-rate of 131. The difference becomes even more stark when we just talk about the last 2-3 years.
This year in IPL 2025, in 3 matches he has scored 21 runs at an average of 7 and a strike-rate of 105. Last year, in 14 matches he scored 417 runs at an average of 32, which was largely helped by his ton and a fifty. In 2023 he averaged of 20 and in 2022 it was a paltry 19. As per statistics in Sportstar, his numbers from 2023, as an opener have been one of worst — surpassed by Prithvi Shaw and Wriddhiman Saha.
One of the Worst in IPL Since 2023?
Let’s dig a little deep. Out of the 20 openers who have opened at least 15 times in the IPL — Rohit is the third worst — with 770 runs in 32 innings at an average of 24.83 and a strike-rate of 141. Even more embarrassing is his dot ball percentage, which stands at a staggering 44.5 — worst among this lot.
More Deliveries for Ro Means, Increased Chance of Winning for MI
To substantiate his struggles further, the main issue has been, his inability to stay at the wicket for longer durations. Since 2023, among the openers who have opened at least 15 times, he has been dismissed inside the powerplay — 20 times.. the most in this bunch of players. His prolonged stay at the wicket could be directly proportional to MI’s chances of securing a win — as in the last three season, when Rohit Sharma has played 30 deliveries or more, out of the 25 times, MI has won 14 matches.
So against LSG on Friday, the Mumbai veteran might just want to play a little differently from what he has been, for the last few years in the league, and help his side win.
(The list of 20 players includes, in ascending order of averages since IPL 2023 — Saha, Shaw, Rohit, Abhishek Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Prabhsimran Singh, Sunil Narine, David Warner, Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Shikhar Dhawan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Travis Head, Shubman Gill, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Virat Kohli, among others.)
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