On the back of leading India to two ICC titles — T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy –, Rohit Sharma is keen to bring the glory days back to his Indian Premier League (IPL) side, Mumbai Indians.
Mumbai has not won the IPL since 2020 and finished with the wooden spoon in two of the last three seasons (2022 and 2024).
On IPL 2025
Speaking to MITV, Rohit said, “My immediate goal is to try and bring the glory back to MI, win the trophy here. I want to win it but we know that to win, it takes a lot of hard work. A lot of things have to come together; that is the challenge of IPL.
“To win 17 games, that is like half the year of T20 season, but you’re playing that in two months, so that is a challenge. So you need to tick a lot of boxes to get to the trophy. Hopefully, we can have a good season. We have good, exciting and young players. If we do the right things, we will get what we want.”
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Reflecting on poor IPL 2024
Rohit said, “That is where, as a sportsman, you need to show a little bit of grit, determination to comeback from the low. It (2024 IPL) was a low for the team, and I think we didn’t play our best cricket also and there were so many things after IPL to look forward to.
“I knew a World Cup was coming up, and I had to shift my focus to it, knowing that this was going to be my last T20 World Cup. So I really wanted to make it count, and obviously,y I knew that without the help of other players, it was not going to be possible. So we just got around as a group and there was a lot of collective performance from everyone throughout the tournament.
“My career for 17-18 years has always been up and down, which has taught me so many things in life, and these nine months were no different.”
On his 15-year MI journey
“Since the time I started till now lot of things have changed because I used to bat middle-order then; now I am opening the batting. I was captain then, now I am not the captain. There were a few teammates with whom I won championships, they are not there, they are in the coaching role now.
“So, the roles have changed, and a lot of things have changed, but the mindset has not changed. What I want to do for this team has not changed, just to go out there and win games and trophies, that is what MI is known for all these years