IPL: Four of Rohit Sharma’s greatest moments in the tournament

2. Deccan Chargers vs Mumbai Indians (2009): 38(36) and 4/6

Another one of Rohit’s gems from the Deccan Chargers’ title-winning run in 2009. This match is most remembered for his hat-trick. It was a low-scoring affair, with Deccan Chargers managing just 145/6. That they could reach even this was largely due to Rohit’s anchoring effort of 38 off 36 balls, and Venugopal Rao’s mini-explosion of 28 off 17 balls.

Chasing a paltry total, Mumbai Indians‘ much-vaunted line-up was thrust into disarray when both their superstar openers, Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya, were dismissed cheaply. But with JP Duminy getting along nicely, Deccan Chargers were in a spot of bother. That is when Rohit Sharma was brought in to bowl by Adam Gilchrist, captain of Deccan Chargers.

Needing 43 off 26 balls with six wickets in the bank, and with Duminy going on so well, Mumbai looked on course for an easy win. But Rohit had other ideas. Dismissing Abhishek Nayar and Harbhajan Singh off the last two balls of the 16th over, Rohit set a cat among the pigeons. But the job was only completed when he dismissed Duminy off the first ball of the 18th over, thus completing his hat-trick, and effectively shunting Mumbai Indians out of the match. And to top it off, he dismissed Saurabh Tiwary two balls later to seal the deal in his team’s favour. The win proved crucial for Deccan Chargers to top the table, and eventually win the second edition of the IPL.