Mumbai Indians have welcomed back star all-rounder Hardik Pandya after his successful stint with Gujarat Titans. The franchise has appointed Pandya as their new captain, succeeding Rohit Sharma, who led the team to five IPL titles. Rohit Sharma began his IPL journey with Deccan Chargers before joining Mumbai Indians in 2011, where he has remained since. Under Rohit’s leadership, Mumbai Indians have won five IPL titles, tying with Chennai Super Kings for the most wins.
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Despite facing some criticism on social media, Mumbai Indians opted for a change in leadership, considering Rohit’s age of 36 and the need for fresh perspectives. Former India women’s cricket team captain Anjum Chopra supported MI’s decision.
“A player’s job is to play the game. You always walk into a team as a player. You never walk into a team as a captain. How we are seeing from the outside, how the franchise is looking at it from the inside, and now players are looking at it, they have their reasons. It wouldn’t have been easy to replace a player and captain of Rohit Sharma’s stature. But someday that will happen,” Anjum told TimesofIndia.com.
“When Rohit was given captaincy for Mumbai Indians, it wouldn’t have been a very easy decision. At that time many stalwarts and experienced players were playing and Rohit was given the captaincy. MI gave him the captaincy because of his ability and Rohit went on to guide MI to five title wins. So, it is not about how we from the outside think, it’s about how franchises from the inside think. Let’s not run into emotions. It’s about balancing things considering the present and future of the team,” she said.
Amid speculation about Rohit Sharma losing the Indian captaincy role, BCCI secretary Jay Shah clarified during a February event that Rohit would lead Team India in the T20 World Cup scheduled for the Caribbean and the USA.
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