This feels bittersweet. It’s strange how eleven years have just whooshed by. With five IPL titles and a Champions League T20 in the kitty, yes, these eleven years have been good. Correction, they’ve been great. No, correction, they’ve been a dream.

Even on a dare, there’s no way you’d be able to pick just that one moment as your lasting memory from this 2013-2023 phase. Okay, let’s give it a shot. That Lasith Malinga burst in the 2013 IPL Final to break CSK’s chase in the powerplay itself. Maybe even that CL T20 chase against the Perth Scorchers that MI had to finish off in 14.2 overs that year to stay alive, something they wrapped up in 13.2 itself. Or perhaps that Corey Anderson maddening chase capped off by Aditya Tare’s six at the Wankhede in 2014. Or the assault with the bat in the 2015 Final.

Or the strategic, timely, masterful choking out of Rising Pune Supergiant in the 2017 Final. Maybe going a step further and pulling off the same in a game of even higher intensity against CSK in the 2019 one. Or the sheer dominance and the steamrolling of every side that came their way in 2020. There was even that defence of 152 against KKR in 2021, where out of nowhere, we put on a spin clinic, coupled with some aggressive field placements of the highest order to steal a win from the jaws of defeat.

There’s nothing researched here. It’s just pure, raw, unadulterated MI Paltan fan memory.

There’s one thread though running through all of it. It, in fact, is more a stamp. The Rohit Sharma seal, a seal of tactical brilliance, of masterful juggling of resources, of unearthing talents, of studying and exploiting matchups like never before, of making sure winning becomes a habit.

On the outside, it might just be Blue and Gold, but scratch the surface, and you’ll find nerves of steel.

It was in the middle of IPL 2013 when Ricky Ponting decided to hand the reins of captaincy over to a young 25-year-old Mumbaikar. Eleven seasons later, in 2024, the baton is set to be passed again. In that split second while it is in transition, let’s take a moment to let this monumental legacy sink in. Rohit Sharma, our Hitman, our leader, our legend.