Rohit Sharma's 200th IPL outing turned out to be a memorable one as he led Mumbai Indians (MI) to their fifth title on Tuesday by defeating Shreyas Iyer-led Delhi Capitals (DC) in the final.
Rohit, a man for the big occasions, added another feather to his already illustrious cap by clinching his sixth IPL trophy. He has won it as a player with now-defunct Deccan Chargers (in 2009) and five while being the captain of the Mumbai franchise.
Interestingly, Rohit also holds the record for never losing an IPL final while leading MI. Chasing a modest 157-run target at Dubai, Rohit led his side from the front, scoring 68 off 51 and making things easy for his side. He laced his match-winning innings around 5 fours and 4 sixes as MI ultimately hunted down the target with eight deliveries to spare.
Ishan Kishan (33 off 19) stayed unbeaten while Krunal Pandya (1 off 1) hit the winning run to bag another title for their side. Earlier, Trent Boult, with his 3/30, dented DC's run-flow and put them under pressure. However, captain Shreyas Iyer's half-century and Rishabh Pant's 38-ball 56 was crucial in their side posting 156 on the scoreboard.
Skipper Rohit was also awarded the Gamechanger of the match for his stellar half-century. After winning his first title as a player in 2009, Rohit's flurry of IPL trophies started from 2013. While leading MI for the first time, Rohit steered them to the final in 2013 where they defeated MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to lift inaugural IPL title. Rohit has now lifted trophies in -- 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. With their record fifth title, Rohit's brigade also became the second IPL team after CSK to defend their title.
Along with his sixth IPL title, Rohit also etched a few other records to his name. He became the only captain to score two half-centuries in IPL finals. His first half-century was in the final of the 2015 edition where he had scored a 26-ball 50 against CSK. Rohit also achieved the milestone of scoring 4000 runs for Mumbai Indians. With 200 IPL appearances, he's now the only player apart from MS Dhoni to achieve this feat.
