The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) aimed to secure their playoff berth as they prepared to host the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 60 of this season’s Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) on Saturday. However, the weather cast a shadow over the excitement among fans and teams as heavy rains in Kolkata delayed the toss.
While the teams awaited a break in the rain for the toss, an intriguing scene unfolded at the ground with former MI captain Rohit Sharma seated among the KKR players and coaches. Rohit is observed seated and engaging in an extensive conversation with Manish Pandey, Abhishek Nayar, KS Bharat, Bharat Arun, and Varun Chakravarthy while they await a break in the rainfall.
Significantly, the day before the match, a video of the Indian captain surfaced, showing him engaged in a lengthy conversation with Nayar, his former teammate at Mumbai, who is now part of the Kolkata Knight Riders’ support staff.
The conversation sparked significant discussion among internet users, with everyone offering their own interpretations of the chat and speculating about its content. Meanwhile, Mumbai has chosen not to include Rohit Sharma in the team’s Playing XI for the current IPL match against Kolkata. However, the experienced cricketer is listed as one of the Impact Substitutes.
‘When did Rohit perform?’: Sehwag unsure about the retention of the opener for Mumbai Indians
Virender Sehwag, renowned for his direct manner and honest viewpoints, openly discussed his views on Rohit Sharma’s future with the Mumbai Indians. The former Indian opener voiced his scepticism about the probability of Rohit being retained by the franchise.
In a conversation with Cricbuzz on Saturday, Sehwag indicated that besides Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav, no player in the MI team could guarantee their retention ahead of the upcoming mega auction. This observation also prompts inquiries regarding Hardik Pandya’s status within the team.
“If you get Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan for one movie, it doesn’t mean it will be a hit film. You have to perform. There has to be something in the script. Look at these big names…they all have to perform. Rohit scored one hundred and it was in a losing cause. “
“In the remaining matches, when did he perform? Ishan Kishan has not gone beyond the powerplay the entire season. So the only two players who are certain are Bumrah and Suryakumar. If they have a third and a fourth, we’ll see,” he said.
Rohit’s display in this IPL season was underwhelming, as he only accumulated 330 runs in 12 matches, including one century.
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