Ambati Rayudu wants to see Rohit Sharma make a switch to Chennai Super Kings after being removed as captain for the Mumbai Indians for IPL 2024.
Will Rohit Sharma play under Hardik Pandya’s captaincy… or won’t he? The suspense continues to grow as the build-up for the IPL 2024 starts following India’s 4-1 hammering of England in the just-concluded Test series. In December of last year, MI announced that the returning Hardik will be taking over captaincy reign, ending Rohit’s decade-long tenure as the man in charge. The decision was met with a strong wave of public backlash as fans slammed the franchise’s call and wished to see their beloved Rohit back as captain.
Will the unthinkable happen? Will Rohit Sharma ever be part of the ‘Yellove’ army?(PTI)
Things turned even more interesting when Rohit’s wife Ritika Sajdeh commented ‘So many things wrong with this’ to Mark Boucher’s statement that the call was made because captaincy was affecting Rohit’s batting and MI wanted to see him back flourishing as a batter. And of course, there was the whole transition reason too. Rohit is yet to speak about it publicly but the inside noises do not depict that all is well regarding the change in guard.
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Weighing in on the whole saga, Ambati Rayudu, the former MI and CSK batter, came out in support of Rohit and said that MI probably rushed into making the captaincy switch. Hardik returns to MI after captaincy Gujarat Titans in two season – winning one and finishing runner-up in the other. But while it speaks will of his credentials as captain, Rayudu begged to differ.
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“This year, Rohit should have continued captaining this year and Hardik, maybe after a year, could have been given that responsibility. Rohit is still captaining India in T2OIs. I personally feel that MI rushed into this decision but probably they know best. So, it will be difficult. Gujarat Titans had a different set-up. Captaining MI is not easy because there are so many star players in the team. There is too much pressure and not everyone can handle it,” Rayudu said in an interview with News24.
Rayudu wants to see Rohit in CSK
Rayudu then dropped a bomb, saying that he wishes to see Rohit make the much-rumoured switch to Chennai Super Kings. The former India batter reckons Rohit can still go on for another 5-6 years and having achieved everything that there is for MI – winning the title five times – the prospect of him unfolding a new chapter with the ‘Yellove Army’ is as exciting as it gets.
However, on being asked by the anchor whether Rohit should lead CSK if MS Dhoni retires after this season, Rayudu says the decision should be entirely Rohit’s. “Rohit can play for another 5-6 years. I want to see Rohit in CSK going forward. If he has to captain, he can do it anywhere in the world. But it’s up to him. He has played so many years for MI and won them titles. So if he goes there, why not,” added Rayudu.
With Rohit’s ouster as captain, gone are the days of MI boasting a star-studded squad. Even though it’s not entirely devoid of it, Hardik is set for his captaincy debut with a bunch of promising youngsters such as Nehal Wadhera, Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Shams Mulani, Kumar Kartikeya, Gerald Coetzee, Akash Madhwal and more.
