Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 5 : The opening pair of Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma joined history books, becoming the first-ever pair to register three century partnerships for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL history.
Rickelton and Rohit established themselves as one of MI's best opening pairs during the match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Set a gigantic 229 runs to chase, a 143-run stand between Rohit (84 in 44 balls, with six fours and seven sixes) and Rickelton (83 in 32 balls, with six fours and eight sixes) made an absolute meal out of LSG's strong pace trio of Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan and Prince Yadav, helping MI chase down the target in 18.4 overs.
The pairs with two century partnerships for MI in IPL are: Rohit Sharma & Ishan Kishan, Parthiv Patel & Lendl Simmons and finally, Sachin Tendulkar and Ambati Rayadu.
Their 143-run stand is the joint-fourth-highest stand for MI for any wicket, with Rohit and Herschelle Gibbs' 167-run stand against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2012 being the best-ever partnership in MI's storied IPL history.
Rickelton and Rohit, in their 18 outings as a pair, have scored 825 runs at an average of 48.52, with three century and two half-century stands.
*Rickelton's rich run of form brings him equal to franchise icon Kieron Pollard
Rickelton has been in sensational form this season. He is MI's top run-getter and overall sixth-highest, with 380 runs in eight innings at an average of 54.28 and a strike rate of 190.95, including a century and two fifties.
This is the third time Rickelton hit 8 sixes or more in an IPL innings - the joint-most for MI alongside Kieron Pollard. All of these instances have come in this season.
*A vintage Rohit mesmerises a thousand sore eyes at Wankhede
After his fourth IPL match, Rohit's IPL campaign encountered a massive setback, a hamstring injury, an injury that is known to get even worse with age. For five matches, fans looked endlessly for updates, watching Rohit's practice sessions hoping that he would take to the field. Just a few days after celebrating his 39th birthday, Rohit made his return to the field in his side's 10th match of the campaign and put on a batting masterclass that has become a routine for the 'Hitman' over the years, scoring 84 in just 44 balls, with six fours and seven sixes, scoring at a strike rate of 190.91.
Two of Rohit's fastest IPL fifties ever have come in this season. His 23-ball fifty during the campaign opener against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is his fastest one in IPL history, outdoing his 25-ball effort against arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2015 IPL final and now this one came in 27 balls, his fourth-fastest in the tournament history.
One wonders how this season could have been for Rohit had he not suffered an injury set-back as despite missing five matches, he is MI's third-highest run-getter with 221 runs in five innings at an average of 55.25 and a strike rate of 174.01, with two fifties. Only Naman Dhir (256 in 10 innings with two fifties) and Rickelton have outdone him, with Suryakumar Yadav, skipper Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma having not found the consistency required of a five-time championship-winning unit and of players who are also the recently crowned T20 World Cup winners with Team India.
Will Rohit make it count in final four group stage matches with some big knocks to his name and give his fans something to cheer about despite having the slimmest of the slim playoff hopes?
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