How MI beat the odds to sign Rohit Sharma at IPL auction

Rohit Sharma was already an Indian Premier League (IPL) winner before he joined Mumbai Indians (MI) for the 2011 edition of the cash-rich league. The premier batter was roped in by Mumbai Indians for a staggering sum of $2,000,000 (INR 13 crore) at the auction. In the same IPL auction, two-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) roped in 2011 World Cup hero Gautam Gambhir for a record-breaking sum of $2,400,000.

Interestingly, the Shah Rukh Khan co-owned franchise branded Rohit as a costly signing at the time. "Woah! That's a surprisingly high price! @mipaltan buy Rohit Sharma for 2 million dollars!," KKR had said in a post during the auction day. While KKR questioned MI's ultra-expensive signing, MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings (CSK) refused to bid for Rohit, who went on to guide Mumbai to multiple IPL crowns. Before the auction, CSK tweeted that the Yellow Brigade wouldn't bid for the Indian batter.

Nicknamed the Hitman, Rohit's homecoming to Mumbai was sanctioned by the franchise at the 2011 mega auction after MI retained the services of Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Kieron Pollard and Lasith Malinga. The 2011 mega auction also featured two new teams in the world's richest cricket tournament - Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors India.

Three-way fight for Hitman at IPL auction

Released by his previous franchise in the lead-up to the mega auction, Rohit triggered a three-way fight between Punjab Kings, Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians. In the end, it was MI, who successfully signed Rohit for 2 million USD to make the young Indian batter their biggest-ever signing in auction history. Rohit was later surpassed by Thisara Perera, who joined the Mumbai Paltan for 650,000 USD at the IPL 2012 auction.

How Rohit performed for Mumbai Indians

Rohit scored 372 runs in 16 matches for MI at IPL 2012. The premier batter replaced Ricky Ponting as MI's captain in 2013. Mumbai Indians lifted their first-ever IPL crown under the leadership of the Hitman in 2013. Rohit smashed 538 runs in his first title-winning season for Mumbai Indians. The most successful player in the history of IPL, Rohit was MI's captain in all of their five title-winning seasons in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. The veteran opener captained MI in 158 IPL matches. Mumbai won 87 games and lost 67 matches with Rohit as the leader of the MI franchise. The 36-year-old has been replaced by all-rounder Hardik Pandya as MI's captain for IPL 2024.