Former India batter Mohammad Kaif believes that Rohit Sharma faces a major challenge in the upcoming IPL season to finally breach the 600-run mark, a milestone the star opener has yet to achieve in his illustrious career.

Rohit, who led Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles, came closest to the landmark back in 2013, when he amassed 538 runs, still his best-ever season tally. Despite his consistent performances and match-winning innings over the years, the veteran has not yet joined the elite group of batters who have crossed 600 runs in a single IPL campaign, a feat regularly achieved by Virat Kohli.

Recently, Mohammad Kaif shared his views on Rohit’s low returns with the bat in the IPL and said that while the former Mumbai Indians captain has been a phenomenal with his leadership, he hasn’t done justice to his batting talent.

“We talk about Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, but Rohit Sharma has not scored 700-800 runs in a season. In the IPL, he gets points for captaincy and experience, but when you compare him with Virat Kohli or some other batter, he doesn’t score 600-700 runs. He scores in one or two matches and becomes the Man of the Match,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.

In the previous season, Rohit scored 418 runs at an impressive strike rate of 149.29, including four half-centuries. However, Kaif mentioned that the biggest test for him will be to breach 500-600 run mark in the upcoming IPL season having shed a lot of weight recently.

“So, the biggest test for him this time is to cross the 500-run or 600-run mark. Sai Sudharsan scored 750 runs this time. So, Rohit Sharma would also want to score around 600 runs because he has gotten lean and is in good form. He will be very hungry for runs in this IPL,” he added.

Amid speculations of Mumbai Indians (MI) parting ways with their former captain ahead of IPL 2025, the franchise retained him for Rs 16.30 Crore. The franchise once again rubbished rumours of his trade to Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of next season. Rohit was the second-highest run scorer for MI in 2025 with 418 runs from 15 innings. He will look to once again play a pivotal role for his team with the bat in the upcoming season, having been relieved of captaincy both at IPL and international level.

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