Former Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma was spooked by a fan while he was fielding in the slip cordon at Wankhede Stadium. Rohit was hesitant and pushed the fan away who tried to hug him. Before going out of the field, he also hugged wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan. As the fan made his way out of the field, he was caught by the security.
Earlier, Rohit was unimpressive with the bat. He was dismissed caught behind for a golden duck in the first over by Rajasthan Royals (RR) left-arm pacer Trent Boult. This was the 17th duck of his Indian Premier League (IPL) career. He equalled Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) Dinesh Karthik’s record for most ducks in IPL history.
While fielding, Rohit also came to skipper Hardik Pandya’s rescue. He asked the Mumbai crowd to stop booing Hardik who has been facing widespread criticism since he was traded from Gujarat Titans (GT) to MI and assumed the leadership role.
Another loss for MI
After losing four wickets for just 20 runs, MI failed to recover despite good starts from Pandya and Tilak Varma. MI managed to post a non-threatening total of 125/9 on the board after Sanju Samson opted to bat first.
In the run chase, Pandya did not bowl a single over. Akash Madhwal was impressive with three wickets for 20 runs in his quota of four overs. But Riyan Parag's half-century helped RR get over the line with six wickets in hand and 27 balls to spare.
MI stayed at the bottom of the points table whereas RR climbed to the top with three wins in a row.
How Boult traps Rohit
In the post-match presentation, Boult was named the ‘Player of the Match’. The left-arm Kiwi pacer revealed how he has been able to get the better of Rohit with the new ball.
“I've played against him a lot, and it is just about doing something different against him. Doesn't always work this way, but happy when it does,” he told the broadcasters.
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