Mumbai Indians (MI) removed Rohit Sharma from captaincy role to make Hardik Pandya the new skipper for the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL). Ahead of the start of the 17th edition of the league, Pandya and MI head coach Mark Boucher answered journalists’ queries. Some of the journalists brought up the questions about the captaincy change.
When a journalist asked Boucher about what led to the captaincy change, the MI coach remained tight-lipped about it. A journalist also asked Hardik Pandya if he set down the captaincy clause in contract to join his old franchise. But the journalist, it seemed, was asked to skip the question.
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Notably, rumors have been floating around that Rohit Sharma is unhappy with the MI franchise after they decided to make Pandya the skipper. Sharma’s wife, Ritika Sajdeh‘s comments on Instagram further added fuel to the rumors. Earlier this year, when Boucher talked about the reason behind making Pandya the leader, Ritika wrote, “So many things wrong with this.”
Also, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav shared cryptic posts on their respective social media handles that made fans speculate about a rift in the MI camp because of the new change.
Hardik Pandya says Rohit Sharma will be guiding him in IPL
Hardik Pandya made his IPL debut under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in 2015 and won four titles with the team before joining the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022. During the same interaction with the journalists, Hardik Pandya talked about captaining Sharma in the upcoming IPL. He said the 36-year-old will always be there to guide him.
He will always be there to help me. This team, what it has achieved, it has achieved under him and I just have to carry that forward. He is going to have his hand on my shoulders. Pandya said during the press conference
Pandya’s first assignment as MI captain will be against his former team, GT, on March 24. Pandya has led the Titans to two IPL finals, guiding them to win the trophy in their first appearance in 2022.
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