“Aawaaz badhao yaar uska thoda”: Irked Rohit Sharma asks Star Sports crew member to increase volume during presentation ceremony

Rohit Sharma asks Star Sports: The captain of Mumbai Indians appeared to be annoyed after team’s third consecutive loss.

Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler Pat Cummins’ joint-fastest IPL half-century was “hard to digest” for a dejected Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma.

While Sharma credited Cummins for his third T20 half-century, he admitted that he “never expected” the Australian Test captain to bat in the game-changing way he did in the recently concluded 14th match of the ongoing 15th season of the Indian Premier League in Pune.

“Never expected him [Pat Cummins] to come and play like that. Lot of credit. The pitch got better and better to bat as the game went on. It was holding up initially.

“This will be hard to digest, the way it turned out in the last few overs. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us,” Sharma told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony after losing their third consecutive match this season.

Cummins, 28, walked out to bat at No. 7 ahead of Sunil Narine when his team needed 61 runs off 41 balls to win the match. A single-handed effort saw the right-handed batter hitting four fours and six sixes at a mind-blowing strike rate of 373.33 to seal the chase in 16 overs.

Rohit Sharma asks Star Sports crew member to increase volume during presentation ceremony

Sharma believed that they “had the game” till the 15th over but a “brilliant” Cummins turned the tables by hitting as many as 35 runs in one Daniel Sams over.

Indians, who have somehow managed to earn the reputation of “slow-starters”, have been able to win a title (in 2015) in spite of losing their first four league phase matches.

Sharma, however, wasn’t too pleased with this idea. “I don’t want to be in this position all the time,” an annoyed Sharma mentioned on being asked about a poor start to the season.

Sharma’s annoyance was quite visible from his tone before the start of the presentation ceremony. With losing captains not having the privilege of a host standing in front of them, Sharma had asked a crew member, belonging to broadcaster Star Sports, to increase the volume of commentator.

“Aawaaz badhao yaar uska thoda [Increase the volume],” an irked Sharma was heard right before the presentation ceremony commenced at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium tonight.

Mumbai will next face an in-form Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 9 at the same venue.