27th May 2023, Mumbai: Defending champions Gujarat Titans defeated Mumbai Indians by 62 runs in IPL 2023’s Qualifier 2, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The win sent Gujarat to the final, where they will face Chennai Super Kings. Defending a target of 234 runs, GT bowled out MI for 171 in 18.2 overs, with Mohit Sharma taking five wickets. Meanwhile, Rashid Khan and Mohammed Shami scalped two dismissals. In what turned out to be a batting failure for MI, Suryakumar Yadav top-scored for Rohit Sharma’s side with a knock of 61 runs off 38 deliveries.
Initially, GT posted 233/3 in 20 overs, courtesy of a century by Shubman Gill. Gill smacked his third ton of this season, hammering 129 runs off 60 deliveries. For MI’s bowling department, Piyush Chawla and Akash Madhwal bagged a wicket each.
What really stood out for the fans in the match was GT’s utter supremacy, and it was perfectly reflected during the chase when Mohit removed Suryakumar for a game-changing moment. In the third delivery of the 15th over, the veteran bowler sent a full delivery, at the stumps, and Suryakumar shuffled to ramp it over short fine, but ended up missing it. The ball went off his pads and hit the leg stump as Mohit looked at the heavens and Suryakumar could only stand still for a few minutes in total disbelief.
After his five-wicket haul, Mohit is currently third in the Purple Cap race with 24 wickets in 13 matches, behind Rashid (27) and Shami (28). Mohit is not a new name in world cricket, having already made his name for India from 2013-2015, under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. He last appeared for India in October 2015, and since then has never donned the national colours.
After his match-winning performance, fans and former players took to social media to point out his resurgence. Last year, he was used as a net bowler by GT, having gone unsold in the auction. He only played one match in IPL 2020, and it was the same in 2019 for the former CSK star. His last full IPL season came in 2018. During the IPL 2023 auction, he was purchased by GT for ₹50 lakhs and since then hasn’t looked back.