Aakash Chopra, a former player for India, has identified Rohit Sharma’s inconsistent play as the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) main worry ahead of their IPL 2025 matchup with the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). He pondered how their previous captain would be treated by the five-time champions if his poor play persisted.
On Thursday, April 17, MI will host SRH in IPL 2025 Match 33 at Mumbai. Hardik Pandya and company are currently in seventh place on the points table with four points from six games, and they will need a couple straight victories to maintain their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs.
The former India opener stated in a video posted to his YouTube channel, “Aakash Chopra,” that Rohit’s lackluster performances are compromising MI’s batting order and that he is unsure of how the team management will handle the opener if he is not among the runs.
“Mumbai’s big problem is that the batting order is not getting set properly, and it is because Rohit Sharma is not scoring runs. If Rohit Sharma doesn’t score runs, the batting order starts creaking. You don’t understand whom to send when. Ryan Rickelton, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma are batting decently.”
Aakash Chopra
“Naman Dhir is batting very well, and Hardik Pandya is also in form. Will Jacks hasn’t scored any runs thus far. You pushed him down the order in the last match, but since Rohit Sharma is opening and he is not in form, Naman Dhir goes too low. Rohit Sharma needs to score runs because if he doesn’t, I don’t know how Mumbai will manage him for the entire season.”
Aakash Chopra
Instead of trying to play big smashes off every delivery, Chopra advised Rohit to give himself some time in the middle.
“Rohit Sharma is a very big player and bats incredibly well, and I would once again say that when the good times didn’t last, the bad times won’t as well. However, he will have to give himself a little time, because, as of now, he is continuously hitting shot after shot. He was batting well in the last match, but got out there too.”
Aakash Chopra
In five IPL 2025 innings, Rohit Sharma has amassed 56 runs at an average of 11.20. His highest score this season was 18 runs during the Mumbai Indians’ 12-run victory over the Delhi Capitals (DC) at Delhi on April 13.
“I expect Trent Boult to do better with the new ball here” – Aakash Chopra on MI’s bowling ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs SRH
Aakash Chopra gave his thoughts on the bowling of the Mumbai Indians in front of their IPL 2025 matchup with the SunRisers Hyderabad and expressed optimism that Trent Boult will play well at the Wankhede Stadium.
“The bowling looked slightly better in the last match. I expect Trent Boult to do better with the new ball here, although he hasn’t performed as well this year as you expect him to. Jasprit Bumrah got hit decently in the last match, when Karun Nair ran after him, even though he came back strongly in the last over.”
Aakash Chopra
The former cricket player turned pundit went on to say that MI’s bowling hasn’t been as effective as anticipated.
“However, there too, Ashutosh Sharma played a scoop shot. What is happening? The bowling is not looking as lethal as we had thought it would be. What’s there on paper is not being seen on the ground. That is a problem.”
Aakash Chopra
Hardik Pandya leads the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2025 with 10 wickets at an economy rate of 8.81 in five innings. Expected to spearhead MI’s bowling attack, Jasprit Bumrah has only appeared in two games and claimed one wicket at an economy rate of 9.12.
