Rohit Sharma turned Mumbai Indians captain in the last over of an IPL 2024 match against Punjab Kings at the PCA Stadium in Mullanpur. He couldn't help it. The situation was such. It came down to PBKS needing 12 off the last over with one wicket in hand. And mind you, Kagiso Rabada and Harshal Patel are far better than what you associate a normal No.10 or 11 with. If there were any doubts then Rabada's hook shot for six to get off the mark in the penultimate ball of the 19th over bowled Hardik Pandya would have erased it.

MI captain Hardik had two options for the last over - West Indies all-rounder Romario Shepherd and the uncapped Indian pacer Akash Madhwal. The latter had gone for 44 in his 3 overs but Hardik decided to show faith in the young right-arm pacer. He was seen having a lengthy conversation with Madhwal before the start of the over to get the field right. That is where Rohit stepped in.

The Indian captain seemingly didn't like the field placements. He ran towards Hardik and Madhwal. The fast bowler, who has time and again sung praises of Rohit's leadership, immediately started to ask for the former skipper's suggestions. There were a lot of hand gestures by the three and finally, it seemed like they went with what Rohit thought was best suited to that situation.

Rohit Sharma, Akash Madhwal and Hardik Pandya set field in the last over of PBKS vs MI IPL match

The job of setting a field was made even more complicated for MI as they were allowed only four fielders outside the 30-year circle in the last instead of the regular five due to their slow over rate.

When all this was happening, Jasprit Bumrah and keeper Ishan Kishan were seen discussing at the other end about the type of field they should have. MI seemed a bit rattled. They had every reason to be. It shouldn't have come down to this after they took the first six PBKS wickets for just 77 and then reduced them to 111/7 with danger-man Shashank Singh walking back for a well-made 41 off 25.

But Ashutosh Sharma, the other breakaway PBKS star of the season, came like an out-of-syllabus question for the MI bowlers. The right-hander smashed seven sixes to bring the equation down to 28 off the last four overs. Bumrah had to bowl his heart out to give away only three runs in the 17th over and keep MI in the game.

Batters ruling the roost in IPL

But Ashutosh was still there. With Bumrah bowled out, MI knew this match wouldn't be going to the last over if Ashutosh batted through. Hardik threw the ball to Gerald Coetzee. The big South African as he has done so often in this season, provided the goods. He got the prized scalp of Ashutosh in the first ball of the 18th over to end a magnificent innings of 61 off 28 balls.

However, with Rabada and Harshal still there in the last over, 12 runs seemed gettable. After the discussion with Rohit and Hardik regarding what type of field he wanted, Madhwal started the last over with a wide outside the off stump. The plan was clear. Rabada was not going to get anything in his arc. The next ball confirmed it. It was another wide yorker, Rabada drove it towards the covers and wanted to come back for the second to keep the strike. But the experienced Mohammad Nabi was more than up for the challenge. He pulled off a bullet throw form the cover boundary and keeper Kishan whipped the bails off to catch Rabada short of his crease. MI won the match by nine runs.

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