A video shared by Kolkata Knight Riders went viral on Friday evening. While KKR later deleted the video, which comprised of a small conversation between Kolkata’s assistant coach Abhishek Nayar and Mumbai Indians batter Rohit Sharma at the Eden Gardens on the sidelines of the their preparations for the IPL 2024 face-off on Saturday, copies of the clip had already been posted from various account on social media. Rohit’s words in the video instantly sparked queries on whether it was his final season at the Mumbai Indians. And former India cricketer Virender Sehwag certainly felt it is.
In the video shared by KKR, Rohit can be heard telling Nayar, “Ek ek cheez change ho raha hai… . Woh unke upar hai, main ye sab pe dhyaan nahi data… (Everything is changing one by one. It depends on them, I don’t care about that),”
The former Mumbai Indians skipper, who was removed from the leadership role last December with Hardik Pandya replacing him, added, “Jo bhi hai woh mera ghar hai bhai, woh temple jo hai na maine banwaya hai. (Whatever it is, it’s my home. It’s a temple that I’ve built).”
Although Sehwag, in conversation with Cricbuzz on Saturday, admitted that he wasn’t aware of the viral video, he belief that Rohit won’t be retained by MI was down to purely his numbers. He felt that barring Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav, none in the MI dressing room guarantees themselves a chance to be retained ahead of the mega auction next season. And that probably also hints at Hardik’s spot as well.
“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.
In the ongoing IPL 2024 season, Rohit has amassed only 330 runs, which does include a century, but also includes a forgettable run of just 34 runs in the last five innings which comprises four single-digit scores.
