Despite Rohit Sharma’s rare blip with the bat, the Mumbai Indians (MI) chased down a 201-run target against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Thursday, May 14.
While Rohit struggled during a 25-run knock off 26 balls, Ryan Rickelton, Tilak Varma, and Will Jacks played scintillating innings to orchestrate a great win for the five-time champions, who have already been eliminated this season.
A video has gone viral on social media, where Rohit is speaking to the MI players and support staff in the dressing room. While praising the team’s performance, he took a light-hearted dig at his unusually sluggish knock.
“Guys, great win, it was a complete team effort with the bat. It was good to see everyone chip in while I was enjoying my bit of Test cricket,” Rohit quipped with a straight face, leaving the other MI players and support staff in splits.
Rohit, however, had huge praise for Rickelton, who amassed 48 runs off just 23 balls to compensate for Rohit’s subpar performance. The partnership yielded 61 runs off 39 deliveries to keep the required run rate manageable.
“Rick, as always he’s been doing, was great to watch because that start to us was important. It was not an easy pitch but the way he played, I think that start gave us that momentum to take the innings forward so,” he said.
Rick as always 🤩
A performance deserving of the recognition it received 👏
#PBKSvMI pic.twitter.com/Q78YOBtKNI
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 15, 2026
While Rickelton gave MI the kind of start they would have envisaged, Tilak held the innings together through the middle overs and saw the team home with a ball to spare alongside Jacks. Tilak finished unbeaten on 75 off 33 deliveries, while Jacks scored a 10-ball 25*.
Wasim Jaffer lauds Tilak Varma after heroics vs PBKS
Punjab Kings lost their fifth consecutive game on Thursday. They will need to win at least one of their remaining two games to remain in contention for a spot in the playoffs.
