The 'El Clasico' of cricket, between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, belonged to the Yellow Army on Sunday. The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 clash saw Ruturaj Gaikwad's men emerge triumphant despite Rohit Sharma's century. The Hitman, who scored a 61-ball hundred, couldn't take his team across the line but did reach his century in the final over of the match. But, realising that even his hundred wouldn't be enough to take Mumbai Indians across the line, Rohit had a low-key celebration.
After securing his ton with a boundary, Rohit even refused to raise his bat in celebration and only had a handshake with teammate Mohammad Nabi at the other end of the pitch. Here's the video:
Rohit, who opened the batting alongside Ishan Kishan, remained unbeaten on 105 off 63 deliveries as CSK secured a 20-run win. Despite the match resulting in a defeat for MI, fans and pundits were full of praise for Rohit.
Australia legend Brett Lee even lauded Rohit's 'selfless act' after seeing the franchise's former captain refusing to even celebrate his hundred.
"Rohit Sharma scored a brilliant hundred. The fact that he went out there, scored at a good clip too. I liked it when he scored his hundred, he didn't even raise his bat. For me, it shows that the win means more than his personal milestone.
"You know, he played with real intent right from ball one. He played shots all around the ground, but then the power and the finesse came into play. 105 not out of 63 balls with 11 fours and 5 sixes, just unfortunately, you can't do everything on your own," Lee said on Jio Cinema.
It was Mumbai Indians' 4th defeat in 6 matches. The result sees the franchise placed 8th in the 10-team points table. While hope is not lost as far as playoffs qualification is concerned, MI need to put a string of victories in order to remain in contention for the next round.