Among the shock revelations leading up to the 2024 IPL was that MI had appointed Hardik Pandya as their captain in place of Rohit Sharma.
Among the biggest stories leading up to the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is the saga around the captaincy of Mumbai Indians. MI had stunned everyone by bringing all-rounder Hardik Pandya back into the side before the 2024 auctions and then made almost as big a splash when they announced him as captain for the upcoming 2024 season.
Mumbai Indians replaced Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as captain in December(PTI)
Rohit has meanwhile been confirmed as India’s captain in the T20 World Cup later this year and has also earned plaudits for the way he led the team back from a 1-0 deficit in their ongoing five-match Test series against England. India have won the second and third Tests, recording a record 434-run victory margin in the second. Apart from being praised for his captaincy, Rohit led India out of the ditches in their first innings, scoring 131 in 196 balls after they were tottering at 33/3 at one point.
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A fan posted a poem in which he paid tribute to Rohit with a caption that read: “Is selfless captain ko yaad rakhoge na (You will remember this selfless captain right)?” The fan also wrote “Wo captain MI captain” on the video as he recited the poem and Rohit’s wife Ritika Sajdeh responded in the replies with a teary-eyed smiling emoji.
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Earlier, Ritika had reacted to a video of MI head coach Mark Boucher explaining the decision. “I think it was purely a cricketing decision. We saw the window period to get Hardik back as a player. For me it’s a transition phase. A lot of people don’t understand in India, people get quite emotional, but you know you take the emotions away from it. I think it’s just more of a cricketing decision that was made and I do think it is going to bring the best out of Rohit as a person as a player. Just let him go out and enjoy and score some good runs,” Mark Boucher said on Smash Sports podcast. Ritika, reacting to the podcast, wrote in the comment section: “So many things wrong with this…”
Pandya became a household name playing for Mumbai Indians in the IPL and it was during this time that he became a regular with the Indian team accross formats. He was released by MI in 2022 amid struggles with injuries that severely affected his ability to bowl. Pandya then enjoyed a second wind in his career as captain of Gujarat Titans, roaring back to form with both bat and ball and become the first played since Shane Warne in 2008 to lead a team to the IPL title in their very first season in the league. Pandya also led GT to the final the next year as well.
