From Hitman to Duckman: When Rohit Sharma scripts a worst batting record in IPL history!

For the ardent fans of Mumbai Indians (MI) who desperately wanted their captain's knock during the El Clasico clash with the rival Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday - May 6, it was a day of dismay as Rohit Sharma, who has been admiringly called as 'Hitman' has turned out to be a 'Duckman' as he has scripted a worst batting record in the IPL history. 

Rohit Sharma was under a constant watch from his fans and being one of the successful IPL captains, he was expected to shine as a skipper and as an opening batsman for men in blue. However, Mumbai's record in the current IPL was not up to the mark as at a high time when the teams are in an uphill battle to score points as the season is picking up the pace, MI has been stumbling with back-to-back setbacks. 

Adding to the backlash is Rohit Sharma's latest record of worst batting story. On Saturday, MI took on its arch-rival CSK at Chepauk, Chennai and to the surprise of MI fans, Rohit Sharma had changed his batting position as he didn't open the batting. While Rohit hoped to have a new opening through this overhaul, what happened on the field has indeed had a new opening, but in different way. 

Rohit Sharma was dismissed for duck as his shot fell into the hands of Jadeja, thanks to CSK pacer Deepak Chahar for giving a splendid comeback. Chahar dismissed Rohit Sharma and the latter was dismissed for zero for the second consecutive time in this season. Through today's dismissal, Rohit Sharma has now become the player with the most ducks in the history of the IPL. 

As per the data, Rohit Sharma has 16 ducks to his name and he was followed by Sunil Narine, Dinesh Karthik, and Mandeep Singh who have 15 ducks each. MI has played ten matches so far in this season and while it has won five, it has lost the rest. In these ten matches, Rohit Sharma has just scored 184 runs with a strike rate of 129.58. While he stumbles as the days pass, his best score in the current season has been 65 runs and that's his only half-century so far in IPL 2023. 

Batting first, MI has scored 139 runs and lost eight wickets on Saturday against CSK. The Dhoni-led team, which was pushed to build a potent bowling unit, had proved it on the field as the CSK bowlers had delivered excellent strategies and cameos. Eventually, CSK won the match by six wickets with 14 balls to spare. CSK's skipper MS Dhoni knocked the winning runs while young bowler Matheesha Pathirana was awarded the Player of the Match award for taking three wickets in four overs by conceding only fifteen runs. 

With the victory, CSK ascended in the IPL points table as it stands at the second spot, after Gujarat Titans, with 13 points while MI stands at sixth spot with ten points. Interestingly, CSK has defeated MI for all two times in this current season and the former relishes the back-to-back victories in the El Clasico clash. 

 

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