There is a memory of Mohit Sharma from May 2014 that still lights up like a bulb. It was a high-pressure IPL Eliminator game played at the Brabourne Stadium, home turf for the Mumbai Indians. Amid the cacophony of sounds and an electrifying atmosphere, a young Mohit did exactly what his captain wanted him to do in the slog overs, and was rewarded with three wickets. There was one ball that stood out, which also epitomised Mohit’s key strengths.
In the 18th over of the Mumbai innings, Rohit Sharma tried to play a trademark pull stroke off Mohit, but could only find the leading edge and was caught at short third man. Rohit has essayed debonair pulls while facing bowlers quicker than Mohit, but here he was done in by the pacer’s ability to pound the deck hard and hit the bat high up on the splice. A year later, Mohit employed the heavy ball to not just pick up crucial wickets, but also keep the opponents in check during the 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
All those memories came flooding back while watching him bowl key spells against Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2023. For a brief period, you just wondered whether we were all in a time warp. But it is indeed true that Mohit, now 34, has made a redoubtable comeback. And it was once again those into-the-pitch deliveries that played a pivotal role. He dismissed Punjab’s Jitesh Sharma with a hard -ength delivery, and then outsmarted Sam Curran with a short, slower one. He also mixed up into-the-pitch deliveries with cutters, the occasional yorker and back-of-the-hand slower ones. More importantly, he bowled to the fields that were set.
With experience, Mohit also seems to focus on one-ball events, instead of thinking about whether the previous delivery went for a four or a six. We saw a glimpse of Mohit’s temperament in the game against Lucknow. Yorker length, short slower ball, pounded-into-the-pitch delivery and a low full toss – Mohit used a slew of variations and Lucknow ended up losing as many as four wickets in the last over, as Gujarat Titans won a cliff-hanger.
But the narrative surrounding Mohit is more than just a simple analysis of his spells and the wickets he has taken. During the 2018-19 season, he suffered a back injury in a Ranji Trophy game against Goa. Just when he had completed his rehabilitation, life just got tougher for Mohit as he lost his father to cancer in 2020. At that time, Mohit was playing for Delhi Capitals in the IPL, and had given away 45 runs in just four overs in one of the games. Ahead of the playoffs, on November 5, he had to fly back home, and was then released by the franchise after the completion of the tournament.
Undaunted, Mohit worked his way back into franchise cricket as a net bowler for Gujarat last year. In 2022, he also played limited-overs cricket for Haryana, and was subsequently picked up by Gujarat at his base price of INR 50 lakhs in the IPL auction – a climbdown from the 6 crores-plus that he had commanded in 2016. But Mohit grabbed that tiny bit of hope to find a way out of what had seemed like a never-ending dark tunnel.
“Last year, I played domestic cricket after returning from back surgery,” Mohit said during a post-match press conference this IPL season. “Not many people knew I played domestic. I got a call from Ashu paaji [Ashish Nehra] to stay with the team. I thought it would be better than staying at home (about being a net bowler for Gujarat last year). Being a net bowler is not a bad thing. It gives you a lot of exposure. The environment at GT is brilliant.”
There are two different versions of Mohit Sharma, the pace bowler. The younger version where he was perhaps bowling a tad quicker and hitting the bat harder. And now, there is the older version, where he looks a touch slower, his short delivery perhaps doesn’t have that extra zing, and he depends a little more on variations. Although his skill set at 34 might be different from what it once was, the current version has impressed fans and experts alike. Everyone loves a comeback story, especially one that defies age and could have a happy ending.