Former Indian cricketer and Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Anil Kumble has praised the star batter Rohit Sharma for his supposed reinvention after his innings against the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Mumbai Indians’ first IPL match of the 2026 season.
Opening the innings with an aim of chasing a daunting 221, Rohit scored a magnificent 78 off just 38 balls, taking the helpless KKR bowlers all around the park in a majestic display. His partnership of 148, with fellow opener Ryan Rickelton, off just 72 balls helped ease the chase for the five-time champions as they won their opening fixture of an IPL season for the first time since 2012. Kumble praised Rohit’s innings, saying that the innings was a flashback of Rohit of old with the ease at which he took the bowlers all around the park.
“Rohit Sharma seems to have arrived in his 2.0 avatar, and his innings showed he is ready to dominate again. The way he hit the ball all around the ground reminded me of his prime. It is not easy to hit sixes against bowlers like Varun Chakaravarthy, Sunil Narine and Blessing Muzarabani, but he made it look easy,” Kumble said during an conversation on JioStar.
The legendary Indian spinner also highlighted the work that Rohit has put into his fitness before further praising his innings and setting up the prospect of the former Indian captain continuing this form throughout the 2026 IPL season.
He has worked a lot on his fitness, and when you come back after a short break, it takes five to seven days to get your timing back and find your rhythm. This was a fantastic innings, very similar to what we have seen at Wankhede where he takes on the bowlers from the first ball. The six-hitting looked easy, and even though the boundaries were small, those shots were going into the stands. This knock shows that Rohit means business and this version of him will worry all IPL teams,” Kumble added.
Notably, the veteran cricketer was the mentor of the Mumbai Indians from 2013 to 2015, and it was during his tenure that Rohit Sharma was appointed captain of the Mumbai Indians for the first time, midway through the 2013 season. Immediate success followed, with Rohit leading the team to their first two titles, in 2013 and 2015. Three more trophies followed (2017, 2019, and 2020) after Kumble’s departure, making Rohit the joint-most successful captain in IPL history alongside MS Dhoni, who also won five IPL titles.
