Mumbai Indians batting coach Kieron Pollard has backed under-fire Rohit Sharma to succeed in the IPL 2025 season despite his poor start to the campaign with the bat. Rohit Sharma, who was instrumental in India’s Champions Trophy win, failed to carry the form into the IPL campaign and has struggled at the top.
Mumbai Indians (MI) batting coach Kieron Pollard on Thursday rallied behind senior batter Rohit Sharma amid his underwhelming start to IPL 2025. Pollard cited Rohit Sharma’s historic success across formats to say that his ‘couple of low scores’ should not be critiqued and that everyone will soon be ‘singing praises’ for him.
Rohit Sharma’s poor form in IPL 2025 post ICC Champions Trophy 2025 success is a worry for MI.
Rohit Sharma , who was instrumental in India’s Champions Trophy win, failed to carry the form into the IPL campaign and has struggled at the top. Rohit Sharma has scores of 0, 8 and 13 in the three matches so far. MI lost the first two games — against Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans — but got their first points on the board with a big, eight-wicket win over defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday. They’ll now face Lucknow Super Giants away at the Ekana Stadium on Friday.
Although Rohit Sharma was instrumental in India winning the finals of the coveted ICC Champions Trophy 2025 , his performances with the bat in the recent time has been an upside down curve . In the Champions Trophy played before the IPL 2025, he scored one fifty and that was in all important final but he was scratchy in rest of the tournament. The same pattern has been followed in IPL but this is not the first for Rohit Sharma who often had an history of starting the IPL with low strings of scores to his name.
Rohit Sharma in first three games of IPL since 2020:
IPL 2020:Â 12, 80 and 8
IPL 2021:Â 19, 43 and 32
IPL 2022:Â 41, 10 and 3
IPL 2023:Â 1, 21 and 65
IPL 2024:Â 43, 26 and 0
IPL 2025:Â 0, 8 and 13
Clearly, 2025 is the worst for Rohit Sharma in terms of runs in the first three games at least as he has never gotten these many matches to get going. In the 3 matches he has played so far, Rohit has scored 21 runs at an average of 7 and a strike-rate of 105. Speaking at the pre-match press conference, MI batting coach Kieron Pollard commented on the MI star’s form and hailed the Indian opener as a legend of the game.
Kieron Pollard backs under-fire Rohit Sharma ahead of LSG vs MI IPL 2025 clash
Mumbai Indians (MI) batting coach Kieron Pollard has come out in support of former captain Rohit Sharma following his poor run of form in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The 38-year-old said that Rohit had ‘earned the right’ as an individual to enjoy his cricket and should not be pressurized in specific situations.
Pollard said that everyone would be singing his praises when he gets a big score, sooner rather than later. He said on Thursday (via ESPN Cricinfo):
“There are times when you have a couple of low scores… he has earned the right as an individual to now enjoy his cricket and not be pressurized in certain situations. So let’s not judge on a couple of low scores. In cricket, we know we fail more than we succeed and I’m sure we’ll be singing his praises when he gives us that big score and then we’ll be on to the next hot topic.
“I’ve played alongside Rohit since Under-19 cricket and he has forged his name and etched his name in history in the record books, in different situations, different formats of the game. He is a legend of the game in his own right and as an individual as well.”
In three matches of IPL 2025 so far, Rohit Sharma has amassed 21 runs, with a highest score of 13. He was dismissed for a four-ball duck in MI’s season opener against Chennai Super Kings. Rohit Sharma has failed to score 500 runs or more for MI since the 2013 season, where he made 538 runs in 19 matches to help them lift the first of their five IPL titles. Ahead of IPL 2024, Rohit was replaced as captain of the franchise by Hardik Pandya.
Kieron Pollard calls for adaptability to succeed on different pitches in IPL 2025
The initial stages of IPL 2025 have led to debate about teams demanding that surfaces in their home venues suit the side’s strengths. Pollard felt that players needed to adapt to any conditions in front of them to be categorized as “world-class and legends”. He said:
“For me and for us, I think it’s more about adaptability in whatever is presented on a particular day. As a former player and management, you want to be able to prepare for any eventuality and you try to control things that you can control, and the nature of the surfaces is something that we can’t control as a management and as a playing group.
“So whatever is presented, that’s how you get to be called world-class and legends that you are able to adapt to anything that is in front of you,” Pollard said.
MI, who recorded their first win of IPL 2025 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday, March 31, will now take on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Lucknow on Friday, April 5.
Also Read:Â LSG vs MI: Rishabh Pant’s Scratchy Run Under Scanner Against A Jubilant MI