Rohit played a match-winning knock for MI on his return after recovering from hamstring injury.
Mumbai Indians (MI) defeated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by six wickets in a high-scoring IPL 2026 match at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday (May 4).
Invited to bat first, LSG posted a massive 228/5 on the board, driven by quickfire contributions from Nicholas Pooran (63 off 21) and Mitchell Marsh (44 off 25).
In reply, the hosts chased down the daunting target in 18.4 overs, anchored by a massive 143-run opening stand between Ryan Rickelton (83 off 32) and the returning Rohit Sharma (84 off 44).
Despite the victory, MI are fighting for survival as they need to win their remaining four league matches to stay in contention for the playoffs.
After the game, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh suggested that Rohit could have changed MI’s fortunes if he had returned from injury earlier. Notably, the veteran opener missed five consecutive matches for MI after sustaining a hamstring injury on April 12 against RCB.
Harbhajan stressed that Rohit’s presence in the middle made a huge difference, easing pressure on the rest of the batting lineup.
“It’s important to be in the middle. You can do only so much sitting in the dugout. But you can make a difference by being in the middle, and Rohit Sharma did exactly that. You needed that foundation to chase down that many runs, and he didn’t just lay the foundation, but built a couple of floors on it as well, leaving very little for the rest to do,” Harbhajan told JioStar.
Harbhajan wished Rohit had completed his century but praised the "exceptionally well" played innings. He reckons MI's campaign would have been different if Rohit hadn't been injured during their losing streak.
“It would have been even better if he had got his hundred, but for the time he was there, he played exceptionally well,” Harbhajan stated.
“I wish his injury had healed a little earlier; who knows, they might have won a game or two during that losing streak and would have still been alive in the competition,” he further remarked.
While Mumbai Indians are languishing in ninth place in the 10-team points table with a Net Run Rate of -0.649, Harbhajan believes the side still has a slim chance of reaching the playoffs.
“They will give themselves a chance if they win every game from here and get to 14 points. Who knows, if other teams start losing, there could be a net run-rate situation at 14 points, anything can happen,” he said.