Left-arm curse lingers as Rohit Sharma’s struggles continue in powerplay

Updated On: 21 May, 2025 10:41 PM IST | Srijanee Majumdar

Mumbai Indians opener Rohit Sharma’s long-standing vulnerability against left-arm seam bowling resurfaced yet again during their crucial IPL 2025 encounter against Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday. The veteran batter was dismissed for just five runs, falling victim to Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman in the third over of the innings

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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Opting to bat first, Mumbai’s start was dented early as Rohit edged a delivery that shaped away from him, finding the gloves of Abhishek Porel behind the stumps. It marked Rohit’s second consecutive failure against left-arm pace in the tournament, following his seven-run dismissal against <a href="https://mid-day.com/sports/cricket/photo/in-photos-ipl-2025-gujarat-titans-captain-shubman-gill-completes-5000-t20-runs-105404/1" target="_blank" rel="none noopener"><strong>Gujarat Titans</strong></a> by Arshad Khan earlier in the season</span></p>

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Opting to bat first, Mumbai’s start was dented early as Rohit edged a delivery that shaped away from him, finding the gloves of Abhishek Porel behind the stumps. It marked Rohit’s second consecutive failure against left-arm pace in the tournament, following his seven-run dismissal against Gujarat Titans by Arshad Khan earlier in the season

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This recurring weakness hasn’t gone unnoticed by Mumbai’s think tank. Head coach <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ipl-2025-we-ll-go-out-and-try-and-play-our-best-game-of-cricket-mahela-jayawardene-23548430" target="_blank" rel="none noopener"><strong>Mahela Jayawardene</strong></a> previously addressed the issue after Rohit’s dismissal by Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Yash Dayal, emphasizing that the former MI skipper is well aware of the technical flaw and has been working rigorously to overcome it</span></p>

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This recurring weakness hasn’t gone unnoticed by Mumbai’s think tank. Head coach Mahela Jayawardene previously addressed the issue after Rohit’s dismissal by Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Yash Dayal, emphasizing that the former MI skipper is well aware of the technical flaw and has been working rigorously to overcome it

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite his wealth of experience and recent form in white-ball cricket, Rohit’s struggles this season against left-arm seamers have been glaring. He has now been dismissed four times by left-arm quicks in IPL 2025 alone, more than any other batter in the tournament</span></p>

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Despite his wealth of experience and recent form in white-ball cricket, Rohit’s struggles this season against left-arm seamers have been glaring. He has now been dismissed four times by left-arm quicks in IPL 2025 alone, more than any other batter in the tournament

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Apart from Mustafizur and Arshad, dismissals against CSK’s <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/photo/csk-vs-pbks-ipl-2025-iyer-vs-khaleel-and-dube-vs-arshdeep-highlight-crucial-matchups-at-chepauk-105146" target="_blank" rel="none noopener"><strong>Khaleel Ahmed</strong></a> in the tournament opener and RCB’s Yash Dayal have contributed to this concerning trend</span></p>

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Apart from Mustafizur and Arshad, dismissals against CSK’s Khaleel Ahmed in the tournament opener and RCB’s Yash Dayal have contributed to this concerning trend

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">His average against left-arm pace in the current season has dipped to just 16.50, underlining the magnitude of the issue. Over the course of his IPL career, Rohit has now fallen to left-arm seamers 33 times, averaging 24.18 against them, his lowest against any bowling type</span></p>

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His average against left-arm pace in the current season has dipped to just 16.50, underlining the magnitude of the issue. Over the course of his IPL career, Rohit has now fallen to left-arm seamers 33 times, averaging 24.18 against them, his lowest against any bowling type

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Left-arm curse lingers as Rohit Sharma’s struggles continue in powerplay

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