The decision to make Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya the captain of 5-time champions Mumbai Indians came as a surprise for all of the fans and the cricket fraternity. However, this was not the case with Team India skipper Rohit Sharma as the 37-year-old had been reportedly informed about the decision during the ODI World Cup.
According to a report from Indian Express, Rohit Sharma was informed about the need to change the Mumbai Indians captaincy at the beginning of the World Cup. Rohit Sharma had also reportedly agreed for playing under the leadership of Hardik Pandya.
Hardik Pandya was given the MI captaincy following two successful seasons with newly introduced franchise Gujarat Titans, where he won the title in his maiden season as skipper.
With Hardik’s Gujarat side finishing as runner-ups in last year’s campaign, Hardik was then traded in an all cash deal to Mumbai Indians.
The report also said that Hardik Pandya had kept one condition before joining his former team Mumbai which was for him to be made captain of the team.
Mumbai’s Farewell to Rohit
Mumbai Indians had also posted a farewell message on their social media platforms on December 15 which read “Ro, In 2013 you took over as captain of MI. You asked us to Believe. In victories & defeats, you asked us to Smile. 10 years & 6 trophies later, here we are. Our forever captain your legacy will be etched in Blue & Gold. Thank you, Captain RO,”
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) December 15, 2023
Rohit Sharma is the joint-most successful IPL skipper with Chennai Super King’s MS Dhoni. Both skippers have won 5 IPL titles each.
“We express our gratitude to Rohit Sharma for his exceptional leadership; his tenure as the captain of the Mumbai Indians since 2013 has been nothing short of extraordinary,” said Mahela Jayawardene, MI’s Global Head of Performance.
