After nearly a month on the sidelines nursing a hamstring injury, Rohit Sharma returned to Wankhede Stadium on Monday.

He wasted little time reminding everyone of his class, producing an 84 off 44 balls to breathe life back into the Mumbai Indians’ flickering IPL 2026 playoff hopes and script a commanding six-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants.

As a packed stadium chanted his name, a nonchalant Rohit seemed untouched by pressure, easing into his innings before taking on Mohammed Shami with a couple of early sixes.

He soon found rhythm, and alongside Ryan Rickelton (83, 32b, 6×4, 8×6), stitched together a 143-run opening stand as Mumbai chased down LSG’s 228 for five with ease.

On a flat, batting-friendly surface, Rohit arrived as an Impact Player and made it count immediately, collecting 21 runs off Avesh Khan in the sixth over. While Rickelton attacked from the outset, Rohit paced his innings with assurance, accelerating after Rickelton’s dismissal to Mohsin Khan, having struck him for a boundary and two sixes.

With the stage set for a century, Rohit fell to Shami, offering a straightforward catch to M.

Siddharth. By then, however, Mumbai had seized control. Despite losing Tilak Varma and stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav, filling in for the injured Hardik Pandya, in quick succession, Naman Dhir stood firm and ensured there were no hiccups.

Earlier, Nicholas Pooran rediscovered form with a blistering 16-ball fifty. After Josh Inglis fell early, Pooran (63 off 21) launched a counterattack, dismantling Will Jacks and Allah Ghazanfar while sharing a 94-run stand with Mitchell Marsh (44 off 25).

Pooran’s eight sixes left Mumbai’s bowlers scrambling, with even Jasprit Bumrah conceding 21 in an over as LSG surged to 90 for 1 in the Powerplay.

Corbin Bosch broke the stand, with Rickelton taking the catch, and dismissed Marsh five deliveries later to trigger a wobble as Rishabh Pant and Akshat Raghuwanshi fell quickly.

An unbroken 68-run stand between Himmat Singh and Aiden Markram pushed LSG past 200, but it proved insufficient as MI returned to winning ways, keeping its campaign alive and reigniting belief within the dressing room.