When it comes to counting the top limited-overs batsmen for India, as well as in the Indian Premier League, Rohit Sharma is definitely among the top three. His record in both roles speaks for itself and there is no doubt he will be leading Mumbai Indians from the front in the Indian premier League (IPL) 2020 as well. Stopping him will be quite a job, and it may well fall to the experienced Ravindra Jadeja when MI face off against Chennai Super Kings in the first match of IPL 2020.
The logic is simple. The CSK fast bowling attack looks a little ragged. Deepak Chahar, who has become quite a key, has just recovered from coronavirus and the haste with which he was brought back into training only reflects the paucity of experience in the fast-bowling line-up, especially with the English and Australian imports not available for the first few days, thanks to their quarantine.
Which leaves CSK with Chahar and Lungi Ngidi, with Shardul Thakur as back-up from among the frontline pacers, none of whom seem to be that daunting, especially if the track doesn't really help.
With Rohit Sharma, with his 4,898 runs from 188 games and a strike-rate of almost 131 threatening to dethrone many an attack, the trick may well be to bowl in straight at the stumps, something that brought Jadeja 108 wickets from 170 IPL games, with an economy of 7.57.
The left-armer has one five-wicket and three four-wicket hauls against his name, not something to be scoffed at.
So, while Rohit Sharma could be largely unstoppable, Ravindra Jadeja could possibly be CSK's answer when the two teams face off on September 19 at Abu Dhabi.