Rohit Sharma made his Vijay Hazare Trophy return in style as the former Indian captainnlazed his way to a 62-ball hundred while chasing Sikkim’s 236/7 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday. Opening the innings with Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rohit gave Mumbai a flying start in front of a packed crowd in the Pink City.

Against an inexperienced Sikkim attack, Rohit carried his stupendous form from the ODIs into Vijay Hazare Trophy, with a flurry of shots all around the ground. The 38-year-old went after the bowlers straightaway, racing to a 28-ball fifty, studded with seven fours and four sixes at that point.

He took 34 more deliveries to register his fastest List A hundred, bettering his 63-ball ton against Afghanistan in the 2023 ODI World Cup. At the time of his hundred, Rohit had smashed eight fours and eight sixes. The last time Rohit played in Vijay Hazare Trophy was in 2018.

With no live streaming available, numerous batting videos of Rohit went viral, that showed the right-hander clobbering the opposition for long maximums. Some even went out of the ground.

The last time Rohit Sharma scored hundred for Mumbai in Vijay Hazare Trophy was in 2008 in a quarterfinal match, while batting at no.3 against Tamil Nadu, which also happened to be his debut match in the tournament. Mumbai won that game. It was also Rohit’s 37th List A ton, out of which 33 came for India in international cricket.

Rohit Sharma craze grips Jaipur

Earlier, Rohit’s craze gripped Jaipur much before the match started at the SMS stadium. With the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) announcing free entry for the fans for the limited capacity available at the venue. Initially, the RCA had opened one block but were forced to open three more to accommodate the fans, with the number could be over 10000.

It must be noted that this was Rohit’s second hundred for Mumbai in Vijay Hazare Trophy since his debut. Rohit was finally dismissed for 155 off 94 balls, studded with 18 fours and nine sixes.

Mumbai make winning start

Riding on Rohit’s majestic hundred, Mumbai romped home in just 30.3 overs with eight wickets in hand to start their campaign in Group C. Opting to bat first Sikkim looked to put up a big score till the time Ashish Thapa was in the crease. However, his dismissal for 74 triggered a middle-order collapse for the northeastern side.

From being 162/3 at one stage in 31.5 overs, Sikkim could manage only 75 runs in the rest 19.1 overs as Mumbai bowlers tightened the screw. For Mumbai, Shardul Thakur scalped two while the likes of Tushar Deshpande, Musheer Khan, Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian took one apiece.