Mumbai Indians’ star batter Rohit Sharma shared a light-hearted moment with Rajasthan Royals’ pace bowling coach Shane Bond after their IPL 2025 clash on May 1, gifting him a special bat for his son and recording a hilarious video message.
In the video, which RR later shared on their official social media handle, Rohit jokingly asked Bond’s son to ensure that only he uses the bat and that his father doesn’t lay a hand on it. The wholesome exchange between the two, who share a long-standing bond from their MI days, came after Rohit played a key role in handing Royals a crushing 100-run defeat — one that effectively ended their playoffs hopes this season.
Watch the video:
Rohit, who has now scored three fifties in his last four games, continued his rich vein of form, smashing a fluent 53 off 36 deliveries. MI’s batting unit fired in unison, with Ryan Rickelton top-scoring with 61 off 38, while Suryakumar Yadav and skipper Hardik Pandya both chipped in with identical unbeaten knocks of 48 off 23. Their combined efforts powered Mumbai to a mammoth 217/3.
The target proved 100 runs too steep for Rajasthan, who suffered a top-order collapse — including the dismissal of wonderkid Vaibhav Suryavanshi for a duck, a stark contrast from his record-breaking century against Gujarat Titans in RR’s previous outing.
While Rohit had a quiet start to IPL 2025, his return to form has coincided perfectly with MI’s winning momentum. With six consecutive victories, the five-time champions now sit atop the points table with 7 wins from 11 matches. Meanwhile, Rajasthan, despite having four games left, must begin planning for next season as their playoff dreams are all but over.
