Rohit Sharma is one of those rare cricketers who can blur the line between two teams and its fans. He gets support pretty much every time he walks out to bat in the IPL. Be it the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai or the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, the anticipation for a Rohit Sharma special is always high. It couldn't quite be fulfilled during the RR vs MI IPL 2024 match on Monday as the Indian captain was out to his nemesis Trent Boult after scoring just 6 off five balls but the fans in Jaipur were not ready to let go of an opportunity to come close to Rohit that easily.
The love and adulation for Mumbai Indians in Jaipur was evident even before the match when their team bus was stuck in a traffic jam on the eve match. It required the intervention of a local lad, who helped to pave the way for the MI team bus. The video for the same was shared by MI on their official handle a few hours before the match.
The MI cricketers were seen cheering for the man, who was identified as “Sunny” because of the name printed on his jersey.
The situation didn't change much even after the match, despite MI being beaten comprehensively by hosts RR. Fans were seen cheering for Rohit and MI after the match.
But there was another interesting thing that happened on the eve of the match. When the MI team bus was stuck in traffic, fans gathered around it and chanted Rohit Sharma's name. The Indian captain was seen smiling throughout. However, the biggest grin came when he heard them shouting "Mumbai cha Raja Rohit Sharma" (Mumbai's king is Rohit Sharma) repeatedly. The crowd was also heard shouting “Hamara captain kaisa ho? Rohit Sharma jaisa ho.”
{{/usCountry}}But there was another interesting thing that happened on the eve of the match. When the MI team bus was stuck in traffic, fans gathered around it and chanted Rohit Sharma's name. The Indian captain was seen smiling throughout. However, the biggest grin came when he heard them shouting "Mumbai cha Raja Rohit Sharma" (Mumbai's king is Rohit Sharma) repeatedly. The crowd was also heard shouting “Hamara captain kaisa ho? Rohit Sharma jaisa ho.”
{{/usCountry}}Rohit, the first captain to win five IPL trophies, is not leading MI this year. He was replaced by Hardik Pandya ahead of the start of this season, a move that is still being looked at from a prism of doubt.
Coming back to Monday's encounter, Yashasvi Jaiswal struck form with an unbeaten 104 as Rajasthan Royals consolidated their position at the top of the IPL table with a nine-wicket thrashing of MI.
Sandeep Sharma took 5-18 to help restrict Mumbai to 179-9 after Yuzvendra Chahal claimed an IPL first of 200 wickets at Rajasthan's home ground in Jaipur.
Jaiswal, a left-handed opener whose previous best this season was 39, steered the team home in 18.4 overs in an innings interrupted by rain.
"I really enjoyed it from the start and I made sure I was watching the ball properly and playing proper cricketing shots," said Jaiswal.
"I'm trying to do what I am doing well, some days it comes good and some days it doesn't, I'm not thinking much."