Despite not being part of the Mumbai Indians' playing XI for the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Rohit Sharma was involved in the proceedings and rushed to offer valuable advice to skipper Hardik Pandya and have a long conversation with vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav.

A video clip going viral on social media shows Rohit walking out to the field during the strategic timeout alongside head coach Mahela Jayawardene. The clip seems to indicate the Indian captain telling the MI skipper to opt for slower deliveries.

Hardik got the big wicket of Nicholas Pooran, who is the Orange Cap holder with a similar strategy. The West Indies star suffered a rare failure after making just 12 runs in six balls. Hardik's slower short ball bamboozled Pooran, who ended up giving an easy catch to Deepak Chahar at short fine-leg.

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Hardik Pandya etched his name in the history books with a fine spell of 5-36 in his four-over. The 31-year-old star became the first captain in history to take a five-wicket haul in the league's history. After dismissing Pooran, Hardik also dismissed star batters Rishabh Pant, Aiden Markram, and David Miller before completing the milestone with the wicket of Akash Deep.

Talking about the match, Hardik chose to bowl first after winning the toss. LSG posted a huge total of 207 on the board, with Mitchell Marsh playing the lead role with a quick-fire 31-ball 60. Marsh made 60 runs in the powerplay, which is the most by an LSG batter in history and the ninth-highest individual score in IPL history by a player in the first six overs of an innings.

Later, Aiden Makram played a solid knock of 53 in 38 balls before Ayush Badoni (30 of 19) and David Miller (27 of 14) gave LSG a quick finish.

For those unversed, Rohit is not playing the game due to a knee injury but is expected to return for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) clash on Monday (February 7).

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