Rohit Sharma was seen setting the field as Hardik Pandya watched on when Delhi Capitals went hammer and tongs against Mumbai Indians.
Mumbai Indians were in for another long day in the field as Delhi Capitals produced another 250-plus total in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2024. MI, who had already conceded the second-highest total in the history of IPL – against Sunrisers Hyderabad – did not know what hit them. From the moment Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to field, nothing went his way. Jake Fraser-McGurk’s merciless onslaught of 84 from 27 balls got the Capitals off in a blink, not allowing MI to settle down. All six DC batters who had a go made contributions, taking the total to 257/4.
Hardik Pandya was fielding in the deep as Rohit Sharma set the field during DC’s early assault on MI(Screengrab)
MI were under the pump, as early as the second over as the Capitals blazed away to 31 off the first 10 balls of the match. To curb the damage, former MI skipper Rohit Sharma took it upon himself to make some calls. After the fourth ball of the second over, when the Capitals had already launched four boundaries and three sixes, Rohit was seen setting the field. The five-time IPL winning captain instructed Nehal Wadhera to take his position in the field. Interestingly, the official captain Hardik Pandya, spotted in the background standing in the deep, watched on.
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That Rohit was probably also in charge of the MI proceedings could be gauged by the fact that he was fielding inside the circle. During his time as MI captain and also the skipper of the Indian team, Rohit is always positioned either at mid-off or mid-on to ensure he is constantly monitoring and in touch with his bowler. And since he had a word with Wadhera, it’s possible that Rohit had undertaken one of the leadership roles.
Not the first time
This isn’t the first instance of Rohit using his experience as captain to guide Mumbai Indians during the ongoing IPL. During MI’s game against Punjab Kings, as the 2014 finalists needed 12 runs off the final over bowled by Akash Madhwal, Rohit turned MI captain. Rohit, Madhwal and Hardik were standing next to each other discussing the plan, but once the bowler didn’t seem convinced with Pandya’s inputs, he turned to Sharma, whose tactical decisions worked wonders as MI defended the runs against Kagiso Rabada and Harshal Patel, both very capable tail-end batters.
However, unlike the other night, Rohit’s and Hardik’s tactics did not work on Saturday as DC feasted on the MI bowlers. The Capitals registered the fourth-highest score after 2 overs of an IPL match as McGurk and his opening partner Abhishek Porel hammered 37 off the first 12 balls. DC’s fifty was up in no time – in 17 balls, but they didn’t stop there. In the next three overs, the Capitals added 42 more in the next three to take the score to 92 without loss and capped off a brilliant Powerplay.
McGurk was in line to score the fastest IPL century of all time – he needed 16 off four balls which was very much gettable – but Piyush Chawla picked up his wicket against the run of play to give his team a much-needed breakthrough. However, there was no relief as Porel’s 36 off 27 balls and Shai Hope’s 41 off 17 ensured DC maintained their brisk scoring rate. In the end, Tristan Stubbs blasted 48 off 25 balls to give DC their highest total of IPL, overtaking the 231 runs they had scored against PBKS back in 2011.
