IPL: 15 years on, Rohit Sharma still taking guard for Mumbai Indians

When Rohit Sharma steps onto the Wankhede Stadium turf to take on Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2026 on Sunday, the occasion will have a special resonance for the Mumbaikars. The ‘Hitman’, who completed 15 years with the Mumbai Paltan on Friday, will be turning up at his home venue to try and add another feather in the cap before his time runs out.

 While Rohit had not been exactly a one franchise man like Kohli, he is at par with Mahendra Singh Dhoni – the talismanic skipper of Chennai Super Kings with five IPL titles each under their belt. Rohit, in fact, has the most number of titles with six as player as he had won one as an youngster with the now defunct Deccan Chargers in 2009. He made his debut for MI against Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) on 10 April, 2011 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium and the team management relived the occasion with a flurry of emotional messages.

 A white ball giant, Rohit had been at the helm when India ended their ICC title jinx with the T20 World Cup in 2024 and followed it up with a ICC Champions Trophy triumph in Dubai last year. Speaking in video shared by MI on social media, a somewhat emotional Rohit said it was the hard yards he had put in as a skipper with the franchise which groomed him in the ‘art of leadership.’

“Thank you so much for making it so special. Thanks Polly (Kieron Pollard), Hardik (Pandya), Surya (Suryakumar Yadav), Shardul (Thakur), Mali (Malinga), coach and also rest of you all. Thank you so much. It couldn’t have been what it is for me without the effort of all you guys. This is a very very special team, very very special franchise and very very special people involved in this team,’’ Rohit said.

  The unsavoury memory ahead of 2024 season when Hardik was hoisted as the new MI captain in place of Rohit seemed a distant memory. The star allrounder, a vital cog in the wheel for India’s back-to-back World T20 triumphs, congratulated Rohit for completing 15 years and thanked him for his leadership and inspiration over the years. He highlighted his role in nurturing players for the Indian team and praised him for consistently leading from the front.

 “Bro, congratulations on 15 years. Thank you for the way you’ve led this franchise for so long. I made my debut under you and so did Boom (Jasprit Bumrah) and many others. Thank you for inspiring so many who’ve gone on to represent both this franchise and India. Many congratulations, and thank you for everything you’ve done over the years,” Hardik said in a video.

While Rohit is the second highest all-time rungetter in IPL with an aggregate of 7164 runs (Kohli tops the list with 8790), 5994 runs of them have come in the MI shirt in 230 IPL matches at an average of 29.67 and a strike rate of 132.79. He smashed 40 half-centuries and two hundreds for them, the highest being an unbeaten 109 against the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012. Apart from leading MI to five IPL titles, he led them to two Champions League titles – a global event now discontinued.

 In the ongoing edition of IPL, Rohit has scored 118 runs in three matches so far at an average of 39.33, the highest being a 78 in their opening home fixture against KKR.