In Stats: Rohit Sharma’s Success at Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Rohit Sharma shares a special bond with the Eden Gardens and this piece explores his love for the venue.

Defending champions going into Season IX of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Mumbai Indians ( began their season on a disappointing note after they lost to the Rising Pune Supergiants in their season-opener.

While the result must certainly have disappointed many including the Mumbai Indians players and support staff, luckily for the team, they were headed to Kolkata – their captain’s favourite venue in the world – for their next fixture, and scheduled to play against the Kolkata Knight Riders, a team against who they had a daunting record.

Despite the defeat in their opening match, the Mumbai Indians must have been upbeat and looking forward to their match against the Knight Riders. There are certain days in life when you find yourself in a very good frame of mind. Feel pumped up. Upbeat. Happier. Just like that. It could be because you’re in the company of someone you like because you’ve eaten your favourite dish, watched a movie starring your favourite actor for the nth time, are at a place of which you have fond memories, or for a variety of other reasons.

Sir Don Bradman must have experienced that feeling every time he played a Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and hence he scored 9 centuries and 3 fifties in 17 Test innings at the venue.

Sachin Tendulkar possibly experienced that every time he walked out to bat in a Test match in Chennai, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene possibly felt there was a century for the taking every time they walked out to bat at the SSC in Colombo. At certain venues, the positive vibes just rub off on cricketers, the conditions just look all too familiar and players tend to feel at ease and middle the ball from the word go.

The Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma possibly finds himself happier when he walks into the Eden Gardens and feels supremely confident every time he walks out to bat at the venue. No wonder then, that he’s got an outstanding record at the venue. On Wednesday against the Knight Riders, he was among the runs again – not surprisingly – and helped the Mumbai Indians to their first points on the board in IPL 2016.

Apart from the runs he has scored at the Eden Gardens, there have been several other joyous moments for Rohit Sharma at the Eden Gardens. Here’s recalling a few of those moments: