5 top performances of Rohit Sharma in the IPL

One of the prime reasons why India have been a force to reckon with in limited-overs cricket has been the rise and rise of Rohit Sharma. After a faulty yet occasionally brilliant start to his international career, Rohit found his true calling in the IPL after which an Indian opener’s slot shot him to fame.

There’s been no looking back for the Mumbai batsman, who, year after year, has produced some gems in cricket’s shortest format. We take a look at five of his top performances in the IPL, over the years.

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1. 62 off 32-balls vs Pune in Mumbai, 2013

After the legendary opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting departs, Rohit stamps his authority on the match and shows the world, why he too, is a legend in the making.

Coming into bat at 60/2 in the ninth over of the game, Rohit trudges his way to 15 off 16 deliveries before launching an all-out attack against the Pune bowlers. He hits Mitchell Marsh, Mithun Manhas and Ashok Dinda for five sixes, being particularly harsh towards Dinda – tonking his deliveries for two huge sixes in the final over.

Rohit’s knock not only makes him one to look out for in the coming years, but also sets the tone for Mumabi’s fourth win in five matches. A hapless Pune side is unable to chase down 184 and end up losing the game by 41 runs.

2. 109* off 60-balls vs Kolkata in Kolkata, 2012

Against the most consistent team that season, Rohit plays one of his finest T20 innings, thereby initiating a long-standing love affair with the Eden Gardens.

67 of his runs come in front of the wicket as he sends the Knight Riders bowlers all around the park. The worst of them all is Jacques Kallis, against whom Rohit hits four boundaries and a solitary maximum. Rajat Bhatia, Brett Lee and Shakib-al-Hasan aren’t spared either.

Sunil Narine is the only saving grace in the Knight Riders camp, but he too gets hit for a boundary. Rohit is unstoppable throughout the innings, remaining unbeaten in the end as only the 8th centurion in IPL’s history.

A counter-attacking 79 from Kallis is not enough as Kolkata fall short by 27 runs and their winning streak gets broken.

3. 50 off 26-balls vs Chennai in Kolkata, 2015

Rohit comes in to bat to face the final delivery of the first over of the game with the score reading 1/1. It’s a final that no-one expected the Mumbai Indians to qualify for, but they did qualify. Up against Chennai Super Kings, the team needs Rohit to deliver.

The Eden magic unfolds as Rohit plays a manic innings, sparing no one – be it the tidy Ravindra Jadeja or the incisive Ravichandran Ashwin. Along with Lendl Simmons, he puts on 119 runs for the 2nd wicket and leaves with the score reading 120/2 in 12 overs.

By then the stage is set for Mumbai’s lower order to explode, as the team manages to post 202 on the board. MS Dhoni’s final game in CSK colours sees an unhappy ending as his team finishes second best in the competition.

Later in the night, captain Rohit Sharma receives the IPL trophy from the late Jagmohan Dalmiya in what was the last public appearance of the former BCCI President.

4. 32 off 13-balls vs Kolkata in Johannesburg, 2009

The underrated knock comes in a crunch situation and adds a lot of momentum in the Deccan Chargers campaign, eventually catapulting the previous season’s wooden spoon holders to the championship.

At 116/3 in 16.2 overs, Rohit comes in to bat with his team still needing 45 off 22 deliveries. A relatively easy chase has almost been botched up as he prepares to take strike.

The final delivery of that over is on his pads, and he flicks it in between fine leg and square leg for a boundary. The equation is down to 34 of the final three.

Soon, his partner Andrew Symonds is run out off a no-ball and a tidy over follows. Rohit is batting on 10 off 7 balls and his team needs an improbable 21 runs in the final over.

The first delivery is a full-toss, no ball, dispatched for four – the illegality isn’t for the height, nor is it for overstepping. Too many fielders are outside the 30-yard circle, that’s why.

14 off 4, and Rohit hits the meaty full toss for a massive six over midwicket. 8 off 3, wide; 7 off 3, a quick double is run.

5 from 2 balls needed for Deccan Chargers to pull off a miraculous escape and Rohit does it with style. He drives over cover for a boundary and then launches the final ball of the match into the stands for a maximum.

The heist is complete, Rohit Sharma is the hero.

5. 82* off 54-balls vs Kolkata in Kolkata, 2016

It’s in Kolkata, against Kolkata and at Rohit’s playground that the latest of his gems gets underway, bringing back sanity to the Mumbai Indians camp after a rocky start to the season.

Batting first, Kolkata put 187 runs on the board, an imposing target set thanks to meaningful performances by Gautam Gambhir and Manish Pandey.

Third ball into the chase, Rohit plays his trademark flick shot over square leg and later dispatches a John Hastings’ delivery to the cover boundary for a glorious four in the second over.

The Rohit train chugs along effortlessly accumulating runs till Andre Russell comes back to bowl his second spell. Three boundaries later – one of which is an extraordinary mid-wicket four swept from outside off – Mumbai are at the cusp of a famous win. And the architect of it is Rohit Sharma, once again.