But in the IPL, Rohit has barely been at his best as a batter over the past 7-8 years. Former cricketer and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar tried to explain why Rohit might be struggling. “Rohit Sharma is clearly going through a phase. He’s not the Rohit Sharma of, say, three to four years ago. He’s at a stage in his career where he has to push himself every morning ‘train hard and be at his best ‘ because things are slipping away for him. He’s still relying on his natural talent and instincts,” Manjrekar said on JioStar.

That said, by and large, he has not come under the lens as much as others because of his captaincy and the trophies he won for MI. Which is not the case anymore. As a batter, Rohit has to perform to deem a place in the XI and there is merit to the question of whether he deserves a spot. But oftentimes, franchises understand their player’s limitations more than they are credited for. Even more so when it comes to MI. They gave Rohit three years without a title before moving on to Hardik Pandya, which also led to murmurs about the former leaving MI.

However, when Rohit was retained along with Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav ahead of the mega auction, it seemed pretty clear how specific and limited his role was going to be. Perhaps not to the extent of MS Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings but as much as or if not more than that of Kohli and Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He started as an Impact Player this season and is expected to do so more often than not through this season.

For those of us watching from outside, MI and Rohit also know his days as a prime IPL batter is long gone and now, it is all about making the best use of his abilities. Can they? Will he? The next few weeks will tell.