Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary has taken a sharp dig at Mumbai Indians (MI) stalwart Rohit Sharma, questioning his lack of blockbuster IPL seasons. Tiwary compared Rohit’s inconsistency to Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) Virat Kohli, who has regularly piled on the runs in the T20 tournament.
Mumbai Indians, now under Hardik Pandya’s leadership, have endured a tough start to IPL 2025, suffering back-to-back defeats. Their latest setback came against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on March 29, where they fell short by 36 runs while chasing a steep 197-run target. Rohit, who opened the innings, managed just eight runs before falling to Mohammed Siraj, further fueling concerns over his IPL form.
Manoj Tiwary didn’t mince words while analyzing Rohit’s performance, insisting that a player of his caliber should be producing far more dominant seasons.
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“I don’t want to sound too harsh, but sometimes you have to be. It’s high time Rohit Sharma delivered a big IPL season. A player of his class should not be content with 400-run seasons. Last year, he managed 400 with a century, which is fine. But where is the 800-900-run season? Why is it that Virat Kohli keeps scoring consistently while Rohit hasn’t had a massive IPL season? There should be a year where he scores 600-700 runs,” Manoj Tiwary stated during a discussion on Cricbuzz.
The stats back Tiwary’s argument. Rohit has been underwhelming in the IPL over the past few years, having surpassed the 400-run mark in a season only twice in the last eight editions. His struggles have continued into IPL 2025, with a duck in the season opener against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), followed by another low score against Gujarat Titans.
Adding to the Mumbai Indians’ woes, the franchise has struggled to find consistent success in recent years. They have failed to make the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, a sharp contrast to their dominant era under Rohit’s captaincy. The leadership transition from Rohit to Hardik Pandya has also been controversial, with fans openly expressing their displeasure at the move.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag also weighed in on the debate, echoing Tiwary’s concerns about Rohit’s IPL numbers.
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“Manoj Tiwary asked a valid question—where is that one big IPL season from Rohit? At this stage of his career, is it realistic to expect a 600-700 run season from him? It’s been 18 years, and he hasn’t done it yet. So why should we believe it will happen now?” Virender Sehwag remarked.
With MI’s season off to a shaky start, the pressure is mounting on Rohit to silence his critics and deliver the kind of IPL campaign that has eluded him for nearly two decades.
