Mumbai Indians have suffered three defeats from four games and now they have a potentially serious injury concern around their most important batter to deal with as well. Rohit Sharma retired hurt during Sunday night’s loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium, walking off in the sixth over of MI’s chase with a suspected hamstring issue.

He will undergo scans to determine the severity of the injury and his availability for MI’s next game against unbeaten Punjab Kings on Thursday April 16 will depend entirely on what those scans reveal.

What happened with Rohit Sharma on the MI vs RCB night

Chasing 241 at the Wankhede, Rohit had made 19 off 13 balls with two fours and a six when the problem became apparent. He was visibly limping four balls into the fifth over and required lengthy treatment from the MI physio before the first delivery of the sixth over.

He returned to face the next ball, a Rasikh Salam delivery he could only block, and then walked off retired hurt and did not return to the crease. MI went on to lose by 18 runs, their third defeat of the season in four games.

Teammate Sherfane Rutherford, who spoke at the post-match press conference, was honest about how little information the dressing room had at that point. “I’m not entirely sure yet, perhaps it’s a bit of a hamstring issue, but I can’t say for certain. I was in the dugout so I don’t have much information on it,” he said. The exact picture will only emerge once the scan results are available.

What Mumbai lose if Rohit Sharma misses the MI vs PBKS game

Rohit had 137 runs from four innings this season including one fifty and had been MI’s most consistent performer with the bat in what has otherwise been a deeply disappointing start to their campaign.

On the night he retired hurt he also reached the milestone of 6,000 runs for Mumbai Indians completing 15 years with the franchise in the same over he was forced to leave the field. Losing him even temporarily would be a significant blow for a side that is already struggling for results.

The options to cover his absence are not without merit, Quinton de Kock could come back in to open alongside Ryan Rickelton, who has been in good touch this season, or Suryakumar Yadav could be promoted to the top of the order, a role in which he has scored 441 runs from 12 IPL matches previously.

Captain Hardik Pandya alluded to the need to adjust the combination after the loss, though he stopped short of confirming anything ahead of the scan results. MI will now face an unbeaten Punjab Kings side that has won all their completed games this season, and they may have to do it without the man who has been the heartbeat of their batting lineup.

The Virat Kohli subplot that adds to concern

Adding to the injury worry on the night was the news that Virat Kohli also left the field during the RCB innings with an ankle issue.

Two of the most important players in the entire tournament going off injured in the same match at the Wankhede is the kind of development that sends alarm bells ringing across the cricket world.

There has been no official update from RCB on the severity of Kohli’s issue and whether he will be available for their next game, but the sight of both legends being attended to by physios in the same fixture will be watched very closely by their respective franchises and the broader cricketing community over the coming days.