"Rohit Sharma just follows.."- Sunil Gavaskar rips apart the Indian captain amidst tension in Mumbai dressing room

Former India opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar feels that Rohit Sharma identified that Trent Boult was able to accurately identify the Indian captain’s weakness last night. Rohit had got out for a golden duck, upon his return to the Wankhede stadium for MI’s first home game of the season against Rajasthan Royals. The 5-time champions, who were expected to register their first win, failed to make an impact and instead suffered another shambolic loss.

The Mumbai Indians had never got off to the type of start they had wanted as the top-order suffered a type of collapse that their home fans were not expecting. Rohit Sharma was the first to depart from the crease en route with a beautifully executed middle and off-stump scrambled seam delivery which swung away from him and took a slight edge.

Royals’ skipper Sanju Samson did not make any mistake behind the stumps as he completed a one-handed catch by diving on his right. Rohit Sharma, who was sacked as MI captain before the start of the season, had the onus of getting the team off to a good start. However, his struggle against skillful left-arm seamers continued as he registered his 17th duck in IPL history, the joint-most by a batsman along with Dinesh Karthik.

Sunil Gavaskar explains in his own words how Trent Boult got rid of Rohit Sharma

The wicket of Rohit Sharma was perfectly explained by Sunil Gavaskar, who was present in the English commentary box when Trent Boult scalped Rohit’s wicket. Gavaskar emphasized the way Boult released the ball and tried to highlight the scrambled seam. The 72-year-old stated that Rohit has always been vulnerable to these types of deliveries, especially to those who hold the line.

Gavaskar claimed that Rohit Sharma has a habit of following the in-stump line ball that goes out and that is how the Indian skipper lost his wicket off the first ball. Rohit was not the only batsman who got out for a golden duck last night. Number 3 and 4 batters Naman Dhir and Dewald Brevis had also got out for a duck and both of them were removed by Boult only.

“Have a look at his release. This is Rohit’s wicket; it’s a scrambled seam. Rohit has been vulnerable to the ball that comes in to him so he is probably anticipating that when the ball holds its line, he just follows it and then this is the next one. Naman Dhir had no clue, absolute no clue, playing down the wrong line and the odd lbw.” – Gavaskar said while commentating via Star Sports.

Rohit Sharma joins Dinesh Karthik in an infamous list

Meanwhile, with his golden duck last night, Rohit Sharma joined the infamous list of batters with the most ducks in IPL history. It was Rohit’s 17th in his career and went level with veteran and his former MI teammate Dinesh Karthik.

The likes of Piyush Chawla, Mandeep Singh, Glenn Maxwell, and Sunil Narine are second in the list with 15 ducks each. Manish Pandey, Rashid Khan, and Ambati Rayudu are 3rd with 14 ducks whereas Harbhajan Singh, Parthiv Patel, and Ajinkya Rahane are 4th with 13 ducks and Gautam Gambhir is 5th on the list with 12 ducks.