19 May,2024 07:19 AM IST | Mumbai | G Krishnan
Rohit Sharma against LSG at Wankhede on Friday. Pic/PTI
Mumbai Indians (MI) opener and India captain Rohit Sharma signed off this year's IPL with 68 runs on Friday night, his first half-century of this season to go with the century against Chennai Super Kings. Every stroke that he played was cheered by the MI paltan. The roar grew for each of his 10 fours and became louder when he sent the ball sailing into the crowd three times.
Rohit's efforts and a lower-order flourish by Naman Dhir (62 not out) were not enough, as MI fell short of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 18 runs.
It was indeed a miserable performance by MI this season, losing 10 matches and winning only four to finish last. MI head coach Mark Boucher, in saying that he was "disappointed" with the season's performance, was clueless about Rohit's future with the franchise.
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"He [Rohit] is the master of his own destiny. With big auctions next year, who knows what's going to happen," said Boucher after the match. "There weren't many conversations on Rohit's future. I spoke with him last night as a review of the season and asked what's next, and he said, âWorld Cup'."
In saying Rohit's season as one of "two halves" having started well and ending well, but "a couple of low scores that unfortunately did not help us." Boucher too felt sorry for his captain Hardik Pandya.
"It was not great hearing all the boos and I feel sorry for Hardik. There are certain things we need to address. Now is not the right time. Everyone is disappointed. I think certain things affected the individuals that ultimately affected the team. Those are the things we need to address and take calls going forward," Boucher said.
Meanwhile, LSG head coach Justin Langer blamed dropped catches as+ the reason for not progressing to the Playoffs. "A couple of poor games cost us. We had a very good team, missed a few bowlers through injuries. Overall, it's been a really enjoyable campaign. It's just a shame we are not in the Playoffs next week," Langer said.
"Dropped catches cost us. The Delhi [Capitals] game at home, we dropped Jake Fraser-McGurk on 24. He went on to make 21 runs off the next over. That kick-started Delhi's resurgence. Despite having the best fielding coach in the world [Jonty Rhodes], we dropped some catches. Dropped catches really killed us."
While saying "IPL is the best domestic competition in the world", the Australian said coaching the Indian team is "the biggest job in cricket".
"Because of the huge volume of cricket, the huge expectation, it would be a great challenge. It'd be fun and a wonderful opportunity to win ICC titles. I did four years with Australia. It's exhausting. Rahul Dravid and Ravi Shastri will tell you the same thing. The pressure on winning for the Indian team is massive," said Langer.
417
No. of runs scored by Rohit Sharma in IPL-17 - most by a MI batter
