IPL 2025: Like the ‘Risen Lord’ RoKo bless cricket fans on Easter Sunday

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It is not without reason, the Easter weekend in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 has been tagged as 'revenge weekend' on social media. Given the rising temperature as summer peaks, it was but natural two batters would express themselves beautifully.

For those who say some players are getting old, please rewind to the short videos from Sunday (April 20) from two venues - the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, and New PCA Stadium in Mullanpur near Chandigarh.

A few days short of his 38th birthday, Rohit Sharma, the 'Mumbai Chaa Raja' showed that even in the searing heat and humidity, he can produce a hailstorm of sixes and fours to send the fans into delirium.

Watching the India Test and ODI captain launch a brutal and frontal assault on the jaded Chennai Super Kings attack, it is clear Rohit has played himself into form. If there has been a delay, nobody minds it in MI or hardcore 'Rohitians' as the social media brigade is known.

How does one describe a man who has seen it all in the IPL as MI captain, won them the trophy five teams and still creates an 'Impact.' Each fan who got a ringside view of Rohit launching the white ball into the stands like a guided missile was treated to top class-batting.

This was what Rohit fans were dying to see, someone who can collar the bowlers, rough them up, as if it's a heist. To come in as an Impact Player, light up the skyline under arc lights with six sixes and four boundaries, this was Rohit's riposte to those who have been baiting him.

So many stories have been doing the rounds, pure fiction, Rohit's shelf life is over, he cannot be the same again. Watching him create the shots on Sunday, what stood out was his hand-eye coordination, how he picks the ball early. And even if he was caught off balance on a few occasions, the bat was still broad enough to smash that poor white ball for a four.

For once, each CSK bowler who had to roll his arm over was inflicted pain by Hitman. This was one show which people were waiting for. More important, as Rohit said later, to play himself into form is not just for himself but also the team.

His boss in the MI team management, Nita Ambani was also watching with joy. As a team owner, her presence means so much to the MI core, where Rohit, Hardik Pandya, speedster Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav are part of the star cast.

Given the long format of the IPL, teams are working their way back into form, as witnessed by MI registering three wins in a row. As a side with pedigree, they are challenging themselves hard and showing that despite so many players who are old, just because they are in 30s, does not make them look like spent forces.

To the contrary, the MI team will spend big bucks to keep them in the side. From an Indian point of view, if people still doubt in what shape and form Rohit is ahead of an important Test tour to England, make no mistake, he will lead. White ball murder and red ball torture, people will talk of all that as well. However, with Rohit it is just about faith and the BCCI bosses still value him.

If Rohit was batting in typical T20 style, akin to loot and plunder and running away with the riches the Player Of The Match award is, Virat Kohli showed how much effort he still puts into his batting.

To contrast Kohli and Rohit, the two are on different missions. Rohit wants to shred the ball, while Kohli has accepted his role for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) is to be present and bat deep.

He was ready to sacrifice his own big strokes and ensure Devdutt Padikkal was able to explode and score against Punjab Kings. The chatter is, RCB have forgotten how to win at home. That's just irrelevant.

To win a match is important and Kohli has now adopted a clear strategy to bat deep, put a premium price on his wicket. And that is for the team's cause as RCB defeated Punjab Kings by seven wickets. Kohli's 73 runs was a reminder, as an opener, he is ready to play deep, which was 18.5 overs.

To score 73 runs studded with seven fours and one six, he was restricting risk shots. A great move, since Padikkal's 61 off 35 balls was more in the whiz-thud mode. Four sixes and five fours, Padikkal has sorted out a few issues with his own batting technique and footwork as well.

Back to Virat, he is enjoying cricket. At the nadir, when the Indian team had done miserably in the BGT Series, some experts had written in cryptic social media posts, Kohli was angling for captaincy again.

How sad was that, to ridicule a man who has spent his life for Indian cricket. If he has built monumental scores in this journey, it's not just for himself. To be sure, he does not want to see the RCB edifice crumble.

At 36 years and five months, Virat slogs to stay fit. Minus his fitness and work ethic of hard practice and observing a strict diet regimen, he would not be able to labour and produce an innings like this. The inner calm and peace which he shows while batting is a lesson for youngsters.

Here comes the twist now, Virat Kohli celebrated in an 'animated fashion' after RCB beat Punjab Kings by seven wickets. Come on, Virat celebrated like a kid, all emotions, fired up and glaring. Some have said he was sledging Punjab Kings Shreyas Iyer.

If interpretations are free, they are not fair. Allow Virat to celebrate, emote and celebrate. He was not indulging in profanity. And for those who love old wine in the summer heat, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli provided the right ambience on Easter Sunday. The Lord Has Risen, and so have two Gods of Indian cricket - RoKo.