Mumbai Indians (MI) at last recorded their first win of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday. Pacer Ashwani Kumar and opener Ryan Rickelton were the best performers for the franchise. Mumbai Indians recorded an emphatic 8-wicket win. In a performance that was otherwise decent, Mumbai Indians fans were not happy to see former captain Rohit Sharma again failing to leave his imprint. Rohit walked off for a 12-ball 13, leaving fans bewildered yet again. Former England skipper Michael Vaughan believes another batsman in Rohit’s position would have been benched from the team.

Michael Vaughan Criticises Rohit Sharma

In a conversation on Cricbuzz, Michael Vaughan brought out the fact that Rohit would be graded solely now.

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Vaughan said that Rohit is not the captain of the Mumbai Indians franchise. The batter is being utilized as an Impact Substitute. With the franchise choosing to not utilize his experience in the field in the majority of the matches.

“I always scratch my head with Rohit Sharma in Mumbai” Michael Vaughan said in regards to Rohit Sharma’s performance for Mumbai Indians.

Vaughan said “I always think, if he’s good enough to be the Indian captain, how is he not captain in Mumbai? I can always say that because I just don’t get it. He’s a wonderful captain for India. He’s done a great job.”

“You’ll have to look at what’s happened in the last couple of years with the white ball scene. Now, if he’s deemed the best person to captain the national side, how can he not be the best person to captain the franchise team? He’s going to play the whole season. I’m probably stirring up another pot from last year,” he added.

Rohit Sharma’s Performance in IPL 2025

Since the beginning of the IPL 2025 season, Rohit has scored 0, 8, and 13. Michael Vaughan believes that if Rohit were still the captain of the team, things would have been different. Vaughan thinks the management would have appreciated Rohit in the leadership role as well. But, as a batsman, it is not good enough.

“You look at his numbers, you’ve got to remember, we’re judging Rohit just as a batter now, because he’s not the captain. Now, I think you can get away with average numbers, and they’re average numbers. If your name’s not Rohit Sharma, you’re probably losing your place in the side at some stage with those numbers. They’re not good enough for a player like Rohit Sharma,” Michael Vaughan asserted

“But if he’s the captain as well, and he’s adding his knowledge of being a leader, the culture creator that he is, tactician that he is, and I see it on a regular basis with India, and I’ve seen it with Mumbai in the past, I cannot cope with those numbers. But when you’re just the batter now, that’s how we have to judge Rohit Sharma because he isn’t the captain. He needs runs,” he added.

Michael Vaaughan on Mumbai Indians Management Role

Michael Vaughan also said that a conversation needs to happen between Rohit and the management about the current situation. The franchise has to find a way to get the best out of their former skipper.

“I’m not saying that they’ll get rid of him. I’m not going to drop him. Come on, get us off to a start. Get your flow back, get your rhythm back, get your mojo back. Because for Mumbai to go and put right what they’ve not done right in the first two games, it does require that senior core to produce,” said Michael Vaughan.

Vaughan said “And then around that, if your senior core, Trent Boult, Suryakumar Yadav, and obviously Rohit, produce their consistency, the youngsters can just enjoy the game. You say to the young players, look, just get out there and enjoy it. When you’re saying to the youngsters at the minute, you’re going to have to produce a bit of magic for us. It’s quite hard. So I think the Rohit numbers are a real problem for the side and he has to try and get that right.”