Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The crowd erupted in loud cheers the moment Rohit Sharma took the mic, with the noise reaching a crescendo when he declared, ‘iss baar No. 6 aapke paas’.Mumbai Indians are five-time Indian Premier League champions, having lifted the trophy in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. However, Mumbai Indians have not won the title in the last five years. Notably, all five championships came under Rohit’s leadership.
Rohit, who was addressing fans at a Mumbai Indians event — MI Mix — held at the Jio World Garden on Saturday, was joined by Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya.“I want to thank you all on my team’s behalf. Keep supporting us like you do every year. We love it. And in return, we will try to make it IPL 2026 | ‘Iss baar No. 6’: Rohit Sharma’s big promise to Mumbai Indians fans – WATCH | Cricket News number 6. Iss baar Number 6 aapke paas laakar rakhein,” Rohit said.Are Mumbai Indians the greatest IPL team?Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan believes Mumbai Indians hold a slight edge over Chennai Super Kings as the ‘greatest team in IPL history’, even though both franchises have won the same number of titles.Pathan argued that MI’s impact on Indian cricket has been more significant, highlighting the number of top-quality players the franchise has produced for the national team.“CSK started winning the IPL title from 2010 onwards. They won back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011 and were the first team to do so. But when Mumbai Indians started winning from 2013, they kept winning after every alternate year. Then they won the IPL trophy back-to-back in 2019 and 2020.”“What I like about Mumbai is their contribution to Indian cricket. The number of match winners they have produced for the Indian team is absolutely tremendous. How do you achieve that? First, you make your franchise big. Second, you deliver results with the team you have. Even now, Mumbai Indians had a great squad last season that could have easily won the trophy, but they couldn’t for different reasons.”While MI can take credit for identifying and nurturing talents like Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, CSK can point to their role in developing players such as Ravichandran Ashwin, Murali Vijay and Ruturaj Gaikwad.“CSK don’t have four Indian captains, Mumbai Indians do. In that respect, assembling a team and contributing to a bigger cause, I think Mumbai Indians are the greatest IPL team. I know CSK will always say they are also the greatest, having won five trophies too. There is no doubt. There will always be a debate and it is a fair debate. But I think Mumbai Indians take the edge because they have given so many wonderful cricketers and young talents to Indian cricket,” Pathan concluded.
