It feels as if Rohit Sharma wanted to make up for the lack of entertainment the supporters of Mumbai Indians had to suffer, when the skipper missed out his first Indian Premier League game in 11 years against Ravichandran Ashwin's Kings XI Punjab due to a leg spasm on Wednesday.

Nonetheless, the Indian opening batsman more than repaid his dues in today's game against Ajinkya Rahane's Rajasthan Royals during which he played a decent knock, making 47 runs off 32 deliveries, which included six fours and a solitary six, even though the Royals managed to win by four wickets and three spare deliveries.

However, the greatest moment of the cricketer's innings came an over ahead of the delivery that dismissed him and ironically enough, the batsman's highlight had nothing to do with his bat.

Walking down the pitch to try and hit a longer shot, Sharma was surprised by a full-toss by RR all-rounder K Gowtham going away from him to the left. Out of the crease by a good margin, the delivery would have definitely led to keeper Sanju Samson stumping him out but the Hitman's awareness of the situation and quick thinking made him kick the ball with his front foot, sending it away from the danger zone.

His creative and quick reaction to avoid getting out led to Sharma's fans complimenting his footballing skills on Twitter:

@mipaltan vs @rajasthanroyals: Deliberately padded by @ImRo45 , he kicks the ball away with his front leg pic.twitter.com/seDys6h1zi

— Om Prasad Pattnayak (@OmPattnayak) April 13, 2019

Rohit be like "Messi who?" ð

Picture credits: Hotstar#RohitSharma #MIvRR #QuintondeKock #MIvsRR #OneFamily #CricketMeriJaan pic.twitter.com/0dUIxp7ty2

— Rooter App (@RooterSports) April 13, 2019

That was a good kick by Rohit Sharma to avoid being stumped-out. Football skills in the middle of a cricket pitch. #IPL2019 #MIvRR

— RAJESH SAMAL (@rajesh_offical) April 13, 2019

Next time Luke Shaw is injured we could loan out Rohit Sharma to @ManUtd ... Great clearance there ð#MIvRR

— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) April 13, 2019

Rohit Sharma just played a smart football in cricket ð

— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) April 13, 2019