With speculation over his exit from Mumbai Indians (MI) peaking on social media, netizens hailed Rohit Sharma after the 37-year-old cricketer achieved a big milestone against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday.

After KL Rahul's LSG posted 214/6 on the board, courtesy of Nicholas Pooran's blistering 75 off 29 deliveries, Rohit Sharma came out all guns blazing at the Wankhede Stadium and gave his team a flying start in an attempt to secure a fifth victory for the former five-time champions in the current edition of the IPL.

Mumbai Indians eventually lost the match to LSG by 18 runs because, barring Rohit Sharma, their top order failed miserably. The likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and Hardik Pandya departed for 0, 14 and 16, respectively.

On the other hand, Rohit Sharma waged a lone battle, smashing a well-crafted 68 off 38 balls, which featured 10 gorgeous boundaries and three powerful sixes.

En route to his valiant innings, Rohit Sharma went past the 2500-run mark in T20s at the Wankhede Stadium.

According to ESPNCricinfo, the Nagpur-born batter's tally of runs at the iconic venue now stands at 2,513 runs from 86 T20 games. His average at the Wankhede Stadium is an impressive 34.90 (SR: 137.32).

Besides, Rohit Sharma has clobbered 109 maximums and 237 boundaries at the Wankhede Stadium. In addition to that, Rohit Sharma has 17 fifties and a century at the venue.

It must be noted that Rohit Sharma's 68-run knock in Mumbai came as a relief to his fans and pundits, considering he was struggling for runs in the tournament.

In 13 previous games of IPL 2024, Rohit Sharma only managed to score 349 runs at an average of 29.08. But what was worrying experts was his run of failures in his last 6-7 matches.

Nonetheless, Rohit Sharma looked like his usual self on Friday, toying with LSG bowlers at will. Yet his splendid innings of 68 off 38 balls wasn't enough to seal a victory for the Mumbai Indians.

Despite that, the Mumbai crowd gave him a standing ovation as he left the ground after getting dismissed by Ravi Bishnoi in the 11th over of the innings.

The fans at the Wankhede Stadium realized that it could have been Rohit Sharma's last match in the Mumbai Indians jersey, given that he was sacked from the franchise's leadership earlier this year.

The Mumbai Indians management replaced him with Hardik Pandya at the helm of affairs of the team, leading to a massive social media uproar against the move.

Even the side's supporters inside stadiums booed Hardik Pandya regularly, impacting the team's performances in the competition.

In the end, Mumbai Indians finished IPL 2024 at the bottom of the table, after winning only 4 of the 14 clashes this season.

“This could be Rohit Sharma's last game for Mumbai Indians. You never know how exactly are going to things play out after this season but what an incredible player he has been and a leader for the Mumbai Indians. To have so much success with the franchise and him being so entrenched in the Mumbai Indians family,” former Australian cricketer Shane Watson said on JioCinema.

“The fans obviously adore him. Whether the Mumbai Indians fans, but also the fans across the world. There is no question that it is going to be up in the air whether he stays with the Mumbai Indians after this season. And how things work out for him to not leave Mumbai Indians,” he added.

“But for me personally, I think that was the wrong call. Because he is such a well-respected leader. It just shook-up the team, knowing that they could move on next season potentially and have Hardik Pandya to as captain. This could be his swansong for the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium,” Shane Watson reckoned.

With both Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya failing miserably in their roles, former India batter Virender Sehwag predicted that Mumbai Indians would not retain the two players for the next season.

“Tell me something. Having Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan in one film won't guarantee a hit. Will it? You will have to perform, right? You need a good script. Similarly, all these big names will have to come together and perform on the ground. Rohit Sharma scored one century and MI lost. Where are the rest of the performances?” Virender Sehwag told Cricbuzz.

“Ishan Kishan played the entire season and he couldn't last beyond the Powerplay. Only two names are certainties at this stage for MI – Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav. They will be the top two names retained. And if it then boils down to the third or 4th option, we will see,” he concluded.