Mumbai Indians’ head coach, Mark Boucher, has shed light on the decision to replace Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as the captain of the highly successful IPL team. Boucher explained that this move was purely based on cricketing considerations as the team navigates through a transition phase. He emphasized the team’s commitment to extracting the best from Rohit as a batsman.
In a groundbreaking trade, Hardik Pandya returned to Mumbai Indians after leading Gujarat Titans for two years until November 2023. Just four days before the IPL 2024 mini auction, he was appointed as the captain of the five-time IPL title-winning team. However, this decision faced backlash as the franchise witnessed a loss of 400,000 followers within an hour of the announcement. A significant portion of the fanbase expressed disappointment, viewing it as the conclusion of Rohit Sharma’s decade-long captaincy era
“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 and as a player. Just let him go out and enjoy and score some good runs,” Mark Boucher said on a podcast.
“I mean one of the things I have spoken about is when you arrive at the IPL and he (Chris Morris) will be able to tell you as well that there’s a lot of stuff going on, there are photoshoots and this and that and a lot of emphasis is not actually on the cricket. It’s more about the advertising and all that sort of stuff,” Boucher said.
With fans still being skeptical about the change in leadership roles, Hardik Pandya
