"It was absolutely unacceptable" - Aakash Chopra on Rohit Sharma's knock in MI's IPL 2025 win vs CSK after a long lean run

Former India player Aakash Chopra has noted that Rohit Sharma's return to run-scoring ways is welcome news for the Mumbai Indians (MI) for the remainder of IPL 2025. He pointed out that the former MI skipper had endured a horror run with the bat in his first six innings in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League.

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set the Mumbai Indians a 177-run target in Match 38 of IPL 2025 in Mumbai on Sunday, April 20. Rohit smashed an unbeaten 76 off 45 deliveries in the chase as the home team achieved the target with nine wickets and 26 deliveries to spare.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the cricketer-turned-commentator opined that Rohit's return to form was great news for MI as the opener had an 'unacceptable' run with the bat in IPL 2025 before Sunday's game.

"Now there is a bigger smile on the face because there were questions, and they were all serious. I will be very, very honest. If Rohit Sharma doesn't score runs and takes so many innings to score more than 20 runs, you feel it's not right. He was improving in each subsequent inning, but 26 was the highest. It was absolutely unacceptable," he said (1:40).

Chopra added that Rohit needed to score runs after dishing out 'ordinary' performances as per his standards.

"If we look at it from his point of view, it was extremely ordinary. Even if we look at it from the point of view of any team's opener, it was unacceptable. So, it was necessary for him to score runs in this match. He started well and played a few of his trademark shots. The thing I liked was that he didn't throw away his wicket," he observed.

The former India opener expressed particular delight about Rohit staying unbeaten till the end.

"He stood till the end and kept hitting. He won the match by nine wickets, and he had a star against his name, which means the guy is a superstar. That was the important bit. He hit (Matheesha) Pathirana for sixes. Rohit coming in form is a huge story," Chopra stated.

Rohit Sharma struck four fours and six sixes during his unbeaten 76-run knock. He was chosen as the Player of the Match for his game-defining effort.

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"Hitting a sweep against a spinner over long leg is almost unthinkable" - Aakash Chopra lauds Suryakumar Yadav's knock in MI's IPL 2025 win vs CSK

Suryakumar Yadav played a few incredible shots in MI's IPL 2025 clash against CSK. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra praised Suryakumar Yadav (68* off 30) for playing unbelievable sweeps in the Mumbai Indians' IPL 2025 win against the Chennai Super Kings.

"The second story is Suryakumar Yadav, the batting range he has, actually just one shot, the sweep. Hitting a sweep against a spinner over long leg is almost unthinkable. Hitting a six over square leg is also a special shot, but tell me the name of guys who hit like that against spin, and the ball goes over long leg for a six," he said (2:50).

The analyst noted that the unconventional batter took the CSK spinners to the cleaners.

"You can't find a single person except Suryakumar Yadav. He has got this wonderful ability. He demolished spin. Jaddu's (Ravindra Jadeja) ball was turning a little, he picked up a wicket as well, but he (Suryakumar) put him in line. Whether it was Ravichandran Ashwin or Noor Ahmad, when he gets going, there is no stopping Surya bhau," Chopra observed.

Suryakumar Yadav struck six fours and five sixes during his unbeaten 68-run knock. He and Rohit Sharma stitched together an unbroken 114-run second-wicket partnership in just nine overs.