Rohit Sharma, one of the most successful cricketers in Indian Premier League history, just doesn’t seem to be able to find a way past the long and dark tunnel of poor form he is stuck in. After a poor campaign for the Mumbai Indians last year, Rohit has continued his barren run with the bat in the first two games for MI this campaign, aggregating just 8 runs in two matches. In the match against the Gujarat Titans on Saturday, Rohit was undone by Mohammed Siraj for a single-digit score, making fans and experts put big question marks on his form and ability.

Former India cricketers Manoj Tiwary and Virender Sehwag even questioned why Rohit hasn’t been able to produce a 700-800 run season ever in the IPL, while Virat Kohli has done so on many occasions.

“Look, I’m telling you, I don’t want to be tough, but I must be. For some players, you have to be. Look, it’s high time Rohit Sharma got back among the runs. The ability of a player like Rohit Sharma is not 400. Last season, he scored 400, he hit a century, that’s fine. But where is the 800-900 season? Rohit is just not able to have these types of seasons. Why does Virat Kohli always score? You tell me. It’s equally good. It’s equally good, but there should be a season where Rohit scores 600-700,” Manoj Tiwary said in a chat on Cricbuzz.

“He should take his orange cap with him. That’s how it should be. How will it be if you don’t get a good start? I expect a lot from him. That’s why he was retained. Because of last year’s drama and controversy, it felt like Rohit would leave because there were a lot of small audio clips. Despite that, he was retained. But since there were no runs in the last two matches, the atmosphere must have been mixed up,” he added.

Sehwag doubled down on Rohit, saying it is already too late for MI fans to expect a 600-700 runs season from him, especially considering the Hitman has never done so in his 18-year-long IPL career.

“What Manoj Tiwary said about Rohit Sharma, where is that season? Isn’t it too late for this type of season to come (laughs)? We are also his fans, but we are just asking where the season of 600-700 runs is. When has Rohit Sharma done that? It has been 18 years, when it has not happened in 18 years, how can you hope for this to happen now when he is at the last part of his career?” asked Sehwag.