Ahmedabad: Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has expressed concerns over Rohit Sharma’s current form. He said that the opener is still “relying on his natural talent and instincts” and pointed out that the Mumbai Indians star is at a stage in his career where he must push himself every morning to be his best.
The former skipper has failed to put up his best in the first two matches of the ongoing IPL 2025, getting dismissed for a duck in the campaign opener against Chennai Super Kings. He failed again in the team’s last game against the Gujarat Titans, which MI lost by 36 runs on Saturday, scoring only 8 runs.
“Rohit Sharma is clearly going through a phase. He’s not the Rohit Sharma of, say, three to four years ago. He’s at a stage in his career where he has to push himself every morning—train hard and be at his best—because things are slipping away for him. He’s still relying on his natural talent and instincts,” Manjrekar said on JioHotstar.
“Ryan Rickelton, being a South African, will take time to adjust to Indian pitches. Very few South African batters, barring AB de Villiers and Heinrich Klaasen, have truly flourished on Indian pitches. So, we’ll have to give him time,” he said while analysing MI’s batting performance in the last two matches.
“Apart from that, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav, along with Robin Minz and some of the other players, form the batting line-up. However, to me, it still looks a little unconvincing. And a lot of them rely on pitches where the ball comes onto the bat nicely. There’s pace and bounce, and even in that chase where they needed 12 or 13 runs, if it had been at Wankhede Stadium, they would have likely come very close to the target,” Manjrekar added.
On Saturday, GT captain Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan got the hosts off to a brilliant start as the duo played scintillating shots to accumulate 66 runs at the end of the powerplay and stitched a 78-run opening stand.
In the process, Gill completed the incredible milestone of 1000 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad before he departed for a well-made 38 off 27 balls. But Sudharsan continued the onslaught, and his dazzling knock of 63 off 41 helped GT post 196/8 in 20 overs.
Sharing his thoughts on Gill and Sudharsan’s partnership, Manjrekar said, “Shubman Gill is still not firing on all cylinders, but that will happen very soon. Sai Sudharsan is a special talent—you almost got the impression that he was trying to anchor the innings. He played nearly the entire innings and got out in the 18th over, but his strike rate is never just 110 or 120; it’s always 130 or 140 and above.
“He’s someone to keep an eye on. He has already played for India, but he keeps reminding us of his exceptional talent. Jos Buttler is also raring to go. There’s a lot of power in the reserves for the Gujarat Titans, and securing this win despite not being at their best is a great feeling.”
In the defense of 196, star pacers Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna picked up two wickets each as GT restricted MI to 160/6 in their 20 overs to wrap up the 36-run win.
Former India batter Ambati Rayudu commented on Krishna and Siraj’s bowling performances, “There were some crucial breakthroughs, but Prasidh has not given away any runs. He has been very smart on this pitch today. Speaking about his slower ball, it is quite unique—it’s like a globe spinning on its axis. He took both of his wickets with slower balls.”
‘As for Siraj, I have seen him bowl out batsmen many times. His in-swinger is much faster than his out-swinger because he cuts his wrist when attempting the out-swinger, which reduces his pace and causes the ball to start swinging earlier than needed. However, his in-swinger is quite effective, and today he stuck to it after conceding two boundaries,” he said.
(IANS)
