Many eye raising trades were done amongst franchises and Mumbai Indians(MI) the most successful IPL franchise provided the fans and viewers with the biggest breaking news of first getting back their old player Hardik Pandya in an all cash trade with Gujarat Titans(GT) and secondly to replace their captainship reigns from Rohit Sharma with whom they have won the maximum five IPL titles till date with Hardik Pandya.
This unanimous decision from Mumbai Indians (MI) though seemed visionary in creating future captain for themselves as well as team India in the near future for the shortest format however replacing the already established champion captain Rohit Sharma didn’t seemed to impressed the MI fans all round the globe.
The decision to replace Rohit Sharma hasn’t gone down well with many MI fans, as the franchise lost more than half a million followers on Instagram. Many have expressed their anger on social media, suggesting that skipper Rohit Sharma deserved a better farewell.
After the aftershocks of the finals in the ICC Men’s Cricket World 2023, despite the new looked Indian team doing extremely well in the series onshore as well as offshore India’s beloved captain Rohit Sharma continued making news. Rohit Sharma was instrumental in making India reach the finals of the most coveted World cup trophy happening on Indian shores after 12 years since 2011.
Though India lost the final rather single handedly to the brilliance and might of the Australians, the emergence of selfless Rohit Sharma who bamboozled the opposition right at the top while batting was a treat to watch for Indian fans.
Mumbai Indians vision for future in IPL with Hardik Pandya as captain
In the world of sports where players excites viewers through their performances be it their leadership skills or playing acrobats, it is evident that one should be able to move on and pass the baton to the new upcoming talent in line just like now Hardik Pandya is the leader of MI. Hardik Pandya’s appointment has raised a lot of eye-brows around MI fans.
One such iconic franchise in the world of cricket especially in the extravagant leagues is Ambani led franchise MUMBAI INDIANS (MI).Right from the inception of IPL since 2008 till the upcoming auction on 19th December, Mumbai Indians has being unique in their style of acquisition and retaining of players. What amuses more from a viewer point is the ability and knack of Mumbai Indians to process and select a player and develop it into the product effective to represent their respective countries in the highest form of cricket.
Many such examples are seeing in Indian cricket itself be it Sachin Tendulkar to become its first captain or Robin Singh as its coaching staff. Keeping lesser known Rahul Sanghvi as a specialist to hunt down young talents or making use of International coaches like John Wright , Mahela Jayawardene or Shane bond as their mentoring staffs.
Mumbai Indians (MI) as a franchise over the years understood the need of growth for talent and this hunger led them to conspire a leader in Rohit Sharma whom they first bought in 2010 then nurtured him for next 3 years and in 2013 in the midway handed him the reigns of the team from ably capable Ricky Ponting only to go further and win the elusive IPL title that year. The confidence and trust shown on Rohit Sharma as a captain was to the level that in the forthcoming years till 2023 Mumbai.
Former Indian legend now commentator Sunil Gavaskar has supported the Mumbai Indians (MI) for this move by the franchise considering future plans.
Sunil Gavaskar’s unique stance on Hardik Pandya over the leadership of MI
Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar believes Mumbai Indians (MI) had the team’s future in mind when they appointed Hardik Pandya as their new captain, replacing Rohit Sharma.
MI received a lot of backlash from fans after they removed Rohit, who had led them to five IPL titles, from the captaincy post. However, Gavaskar feels looking at Rohit’s age and Hardik’s capability, it was a smart decision from the franchise.
Here’s what Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports about Mumbai Indians passing the baton from Rohit Sharma to Hardik Pandya:
“Look they have always thought about the future of the franchise. Rohit Sharma is already 36 years old and also faces immense pressure being the captain of India for all three formats. They have tried to reduce some of that burden and give that responsibility on the young shoulders of Hardik Pandya,”
Hardik Pandya tasted tremendous success with the Gujarat Titans (GT), leading them to back-to-back finals in their two seasons and also winning the IPL in 2022.
Rohit Sharma can express himself freely at the top.
Sunil Gavaskar also believes that with no pressure of captaincy, Rohit Sharma can be dangerous at the top of the order for MI. If the veteran opener can get Mumbai off to quickfire starts, Gavaskar feels they have the batting line-up to post mammoth totals.
On this, he stated:
“Handing Hardik the captaincy is only going to benefit the Mumbai Indians. They have now given the freedom to Rohit to go and express himself freely at the top of the order. Hardik can then come at No.3 or No.5 and help them post totals of 200-plus consistently,”
MI head coach Mark Boucher recently opened up on a podcast about why MI went about the captaincy change.
However, Rohit’s wife Ritika Sajdeh left a cryptic comment on the Instagram video that suggested that all may not be cordial between the Mumbai Indians and their former captain giving all the required spice for the promotion of the grand league before its inception in 2024.