Gujarat Titans giving Rohit Sharma two chances 'awoke the dragon': 'I'm going to go hell for leather'

Varun Aaron spoke about how Rohit Sharma's decision to go ‘hell for leather’ after receiving a pair of reprieves vs GT was a dangerous sign for bowlers.

After receiving a couple of bonus lives early in the piece in his innings against Gujarat Titans, Rohit Sharma was back in vintage touch as he raced away to a crucial 81(50) for Mumbai Indians’ win in the IPL 2025 Eliminator.

Rohit Sharma looked in phenomenal touch during the second half of his innings as he scored 81(50) vs GT. (PTI)

Rohit was dropped by Gerald Coetzee when batting on just 3, but things would get worse for GT as he presented another chance soon after while batting on 12. On that occasion, a thick edge was shelled by Kusal Perera behind the stumps, who was playing his first match of the season as a replacement player for the departed Jos Buttler.

After those early opportunities, Rohit looked in much better touch, beginning to middle the ball and score boundaries at ease, particularly against the spinners. His former teammate Varun Aaron had a theory for why Rohit was able to find his groove after those early chances.

Speaking on ESPNcricinfo, Aaron explained: “After he got those couple of lives, it awoke the dragon in him. He was like, you know what, I am just going to go hell for leather and he batted really well.”

Rohit’s innings of 81 included nine fours and four maximums, including a flurry of boundaries against GT spinner Sai Kishore.

“Especially that Sai Kishore over, those few sweeps he hit over square leg were just vintage Rohit Sharma. And if you are going to bowl short to Rohit Sharma, you should be praying to God. You can’t bowl short to him,” said Varun Aaron regarding the carnage from the bat of Rohit through the innings.

MI progress to qualifier 2

Rohit provided the backbone of Mumbai’s effort of 228-5, but was helped out by contributions throughout the order. His new opening partner Jonny Bairstow impressed in his first match, taking Prasidh Krishna down in the powerplay enroute to 47(22), while Hardik Pandya’s late onslaught saw him score 22*(9) and push the total well beyond 200.

In defence, Mumbai were concerned while Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar looked in great touch, but a timely pair of yorkers by Jasprit Bumrah and Richard Gleeson killed off the game and ensured MI won by 20 runs, advancing to Qualifier 2 against Punjab Kings.