Rohit Sharma is considered the “master of his own destiny.” According to Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mark Boucher, however. He remains uncertain about the future plans of the franchise’s former skipper as they approach the next IPL mega auction.
Earlier this year, the team unexpectedly relieved India’s all-format captain, Rohit Sharma, of his MI captaincy, with Hardik Pandya taking over the reins. The decision backfired as MI ended the season at the bottom of the table with only four wins. Despite the team’s poor performance, Rohit emerged as the top-scorer for MI, amassing 417 runs. Including a century and a half-century, and received a standing ovation from the Wankhede crowd during his last match against Lucknow Super Giants.
“To be honest, there haven’t been many conversations about Rohit’s future at all.” Boucher said at a press conference after MI’s tenth defeat of the season. “In fact, I spoke to him last night or the night before, just to do a little review of the season. When I asked, ‘What’s next for Rohit Sharma?’ he replied, ‘The T20 World Cup.’ That’s perfect. Therefore, that’s all I need to know about his future.”
“For me, he’s a master of his own destiny. It’s a big auction next season. Who knows what’s going to happen? We’ll just have to take each day as it comes,” Boucher added.
Boucher reflected on Rohit’s performance, noting that despite being MI’s highest run-scorer. The former captain would likely view the season as disappointing. “It was almost a season of two halves for him. He started off really well, was hitting the ball sweetly in the nets, and got a great hundred against CSK,” Boucher said. “We thought he was on a great path to get good runs for us. Unfortunately, that’s the nature of T20 cricket.”
Rohit attempted to adapt to a more aggressive role as an opener, which resulted in some low scores that didn’t help the team in critical moments. “He went out there trying to be aggressive, which is the new way of playing as an opening batter. He got a couple of low scores, which unfortunately didn’t help us in those situations,” Boucher explained. “But he finished off with a fantastic knock—a competition of two halves for him. If you asked Rohit, he’d probably say it was an average season, especially considering the start he had.”
Boucher admitted that MI did not play to their potential and losing key bowlers before the tournament began hurt their chances. Without naming anyone specifically, Boucher acknowledged the impact of missing left-arm pacer Jason Behrendorff. “Disappointing, to say the least,” Boucher said of the season. “I thought after the auction that we had identified our bowlers as an area to strengthen, and we felt we did that. Losing two of them (Behrendorff and Dilshan Madushanka) at the beginning wasn’t great. But we still had great options on paper.”
“We just haven’t managed to put our batting and bowling together in one match. There’s always been one department letting the other down, which is unfortunate.”
As MI looks towards the next season and the upcoming mega auction, the future remains uncertain for Rohit Sharma, who continues to be a pivotal figure in Indian cricket and a master of his destiny.
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