Mumbai: Just when everyone was thinking till when he would continue, Mumbai Indians legend Rohit Sharma turned back the clock in his first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, scoring his fastest fifty in the league, reaching the mark in 23 balls against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Former Mumbai Indians captain Rohit, who has won five IPL titles so far, scored his 50th fifty-plus score in the IPL, becoming the fourth batter to do so in the 19 editions of the league.
This is his fastest half-century in IPL so far. His previous fastest was off 25 balls, which came against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2015 final at Eden Gardens.
Rohit scored his fifty off 23 balls, hammering three boundaries and five maximums, going after the KKR bowling in typical Rohit Sharma style. He became the fourth batter to score a half-century of 50-plus scores in IPL history.
This was Rohit’s 50th half-century in 268 IPL matches, joining the club led by Virat Kohli (73, 261 matches), David Warner (66 in 184) and Shikhar Dhawan (53 in 221).
After two steady overs in which Rohit Sharma scored 12 runs off eight balls, the former India captain launched into the KKR bowlers. Rohit first pulled Vaibhav Arora into the stands before his opening partner, Ryan Rickelton, deposited Arora for back-to-back sixes.
Their third six came when Rohit backed away and scythed Blessings Muzarabani over deep backward point. Rohit Sharma scored three more sixes, lofting Varun Chakravarthy over covers and then helping him over square-leg. Another six against Impact substitute Kartik Tyagi, hitting him for a six as Mumbai Indians storm to 80 for no loss in the Power-play.
(IANS)
