Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif believes that Rohit Sharma's biggest Test in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 will be to score 600-plus runs in the whole season. Rohit is one of the most successful captains in the history of the cash-rich league. However, the legendary batter is yet to win an orange cap in the tournament.
Rohit Sharma's biggest challenge in IPL 2026
Rohit's best IPL performance came in 2013, when he scored 538 runs. Kaif, who also represented Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in his IPL career, reckons that scoring more than 600 runs will be something that Rohit will surely be targeting in the 19th season of the tournament. Rohit scored 418 runs in the last edition of the tournament but Kaif said that his numbers pale in comparison to someone like Virat Kohli.
"We talk about Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, but Rohit Sharma has not scored 700-800 runs in a season. In the IPL, he gets points for captaincy and experience, but when you compare him with Virat Kohli or some other batter, he doesn't score 600-700 runs. He scores in one or two matches and becomes the Man of the Match," Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
"So, the biggest test for him this time is to cross the 500-run or 600-run mark. Sai Sudharsan scored 750 runs this time. So, Rohit Sharma would also want to score around 600 runs because he has gotten lean and is in good form. He will be very hungry for runs in this IPL," he added.
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Rohit Sharma's last cricketing outing
Notably, Rohit, who has already retired from Tests and T20Is, played his last international clash against Australia, where the veteran batter was awarded the Player of the Series award in the three-match ODI series. The 38-year-old batter scored 202 runs, including an unbeaten match-winning century, to become the highest run-getter of the series after getting out on eight runs in the series opener.