Exactly two weeks after his decision to announce Test retirement and five days after a stand on his name was officially unveiled at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Rohit Sharma walked out to bat in an IPL match - his first competitive match in more than a fortnight due to the unforeseen week-long break in the IPL due to India-Pakistan border tension. Naturally, the expectation was sky high. There was anticipation of a Rohit Sharma classic, a fitting inauguration of the Rohit Sharma stand. The cheer that he got from the MI fans was euphoric. There were a few fans screaming their lungs out, wearing Rohit's Test jersey. The atmosphere was electric.
But alas! In an anticlimactic way, Rohit tanked.
Rohit lasted only five balls in his first appearance for MI after deciding to retire from red-ball cricket. He got out while trying to play a heave against DC left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who has been drafted into the squad as a temporary replacement in DC's squad in place of Australia opener Jake Frazer-Mcgurk.
It was a trademark Mustafizur cutter. The ball gripped and turned and took the outside edge of Rohit's bat. DC keeper Abishek Porel took a sharp catch diving to his right to send back Rohit for a run-a-ball 5.
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Rohit did look solid in his brief stay in the middle. He was compact in his foot movement and even played a majestic lofted cover drive off Mukesh Kumar to collect a boundary but he could not make it a big one.
{{/usCountry}}Rohit did look solid in his brief stay in the middle. He was compact in his foot movement and even played a majestic lofted cover drive off Mukesh Kumar to collect a boundary but he could not make it a big one.
{{/usCountry}}Delhi Capitals stand-in skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bowl against Mumbai Indians in a must-win IPL game here on Wednesday.
DC were dealt a severe blow with regular skipper Axar Patel missing the game due to illness.
"He has been really sick in the last two days. We'll miss him today. Axar is two players and it's difficult to replace him. We'll see how it goes," Du Plessis said during the toss.
Mumbai brought in Mitchel Santner in place of Corbin Bosch.