While Hardik Pandya is the new captain of Mumbai Indians, it looks like the players still support Rohit Sharma as the leader of the team. The veteran batsman was sacked unceremoniously by the franchise as the captain of the team and was replaced by Pandya.
The India allrounder had plied his trade for Gujarat Titans in the last two seasons of the IPL before returning to Mumbai through a trade deal. While not many were expecting him to replace Rohit Sharma as the captain, the franchise decided otherwise after failing to do well in recent years.
Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians from 2013 to 2023 and guided them to a record five titles. However, he could not lead them to a title since the triumph in 2020. In 2021 and 2022, the five-time champions struggled throughout the campaign and could not even qualify for the playoffs. In 2023, they finally managed to qualify for the playoffs but could not go past that stage.
Rohit Sharma still the players’ favorite:
While Mumbai Indians have sacked Rohit Sharma as their captain, it looks like the players especially the youngsters still consider him the leader. There have been rumours of unrest in the Mumbai camp ever since Pandya was named the captain and the players’ recent social media activity will only add fuel to the fire.
Even if all is well within the dressing room, it won’t be entirely wrong to say that Rohit Sharma is still the preferred choice of the players. Recently, youngsters such as Vishnu Vinod, Kumar Kartikeya, and Akash Madhwal expressed their admiration for the India captain by sharing the video of his first net session with the team ahead of IPL 2024.
Meanwhile, Pandya recently opened up on his rapport with Rohit Sharma. Speaking to the media earlier this week, the MI captain insisted that there would be no awkwardness between him and Rohit in IPL 2024 and also hoped that the senior batter would continue to guide the team.
“It won’t be any different, because he will be there to help out if I need his help. He is the captain of the Indian team, which helps me because what this team has achieved, it has achieved under him,” said Pandya.
“From now onwards, it will be about carrying forward what he has achieved, so there will be nothing awkward. I have played for 10 years under him and I know he is going to have his hand on my shoulders throughout the season,” he added.
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