Mumbai Indians' batting maestro Rohit Sharma faced a disappointing start to his IPL 2025 campaign, registering a duck in the highly anticipated match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on March 23. The usually aggressive opener struggled to contend with Khaleel Ahmed's precise line and length, resulting in his dismissal on the fourth delivery of the innings. Ahmed's in-swinging delivery prompted Rohit to attempt a flick towards the boundary, but the shot only found Shivam Dube at mid-wicket. This dismissal marked the third occasion in the IPL where Khaleel Ahmed had dismissed Rohit Sharma.
Rohit Sharma entered the IPL season on a high note, fresh from the India's Champions Trophy 2025 title triumph. However, he was unable to replicate that performance in Chennai, where his IPL 2025 campaign began with a disappointing dismissal.
Rohit Sharma's dismissal for a duck placed him alongside Dinesh Karthik and Glenn Maxwell, sharing the unwanted record of most ducks in IPL history, with a total of 18.
Most Ducks in Indian Premier League:
Rohit Sharma - 18 ducks in 253 innings
Glenn Maxwell - 18 ducks in 129 innings
Dinesh Karthik - 18 ducks in 234 innings
Piyush Chawla - 16 ducks in 92 innings
Sunil Narine - 16 ducks in 111 innings
Prior to the start of the match, Rohit Sharma addressed Mumbai Indians' persistent struggle with opening games, acknowledging their 12-season long streak of losses in their first IPL fixtures. He expressed a strong desire to break this pattern in the current season.
“We have been trying for many years to win the first match. We came close a few times but it hasn't happened in many years. The end goal matters more than the initial goal. We know we haven't won the first match for quite some time, (and) we will try to change that. It's a new team, we dont want to put too much pressure on ourselves. We should focus on our game,” Rohit told JioHotstar.
Earlier, CSK won the toss and chose to field first against MI. Notably, MI were without their captain, Hardik Pandya, who was serving a one-match suspension carried over from the previous season due to a slow over-rate. In his absence, Suryakumar Yadav captained the five-time champions at Chepauk. The match also featured several debuts and team changes. Ryan Rickelton and Satyanarayana Raju made their first appearances in the IPL for Mumbai Indians, while Will Jacks, formerly of Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Mitchell Santner, who previously played for Chennai Super Kings, made their debuts for the Mumbai Indians franchise.
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI):
Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Robin Minz, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Satyanarayana Raju
Impact Subs: Vignesh Puthur, Ashwani Kumar, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Karn Sharma
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI):
Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Rachin Ravindra, Deepak Hooda, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, MS Dhoni(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Nathan Ellis, Khaleel Ahmed
Impact Subs: Rahul Tripathi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Vijay Shankar, Jamie Overton, Shaik Rasheed