India, March 29 -- A high, juicy full toss outside off and Rohit Sharma produced one of the most audacious strokes of the night. He waited for Vaibhav Arora's delivery to arrive, then lofted it cleanly over deep extra cover for a six, holding the pose for the shutterbugs. That turn-back-the-clock shot summed up Rohit's vintage knock at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday against Kolkata Knight Riders.

The former India T20I captain, now a one-format international player after retiring from T20Is two years ago, carved out a sensational innings in Mumbai's season opener. Not only did he register the fastest IPL fifty of his career, but he also went past one of Virat Kohli's most elite records in the tournament.

Rohit was 12 off 8 at one stage a...