Mumbai: Just as MS Dhoni’s name is synonymous with Chennai Super Kings, Rohit Sharma is spoken of in the same breath as Mumbai Indians.
The current Team India captain has been leading Mumbai Indians in IPL since 2013, and in 11 seasons at the helm, Rohit guided Mumbai to five IPL titles.
But all good things have to come to an end.
Mumbai Indians announced on Friday that Hardik Pandya will replace Rohit as their captain for IPL 2024.
Mumbai recently brought back Pandya from Gujarat Titans, a new franchise which the Team India allrounder led with great success in the previous two seasons.
Rohit is likely to continue as a batter for the five-time IPL champions.
The change in leadership is in keeping with Mumbai Indians’ policy of looking ahead.
Rohit is 36 years old, and may be looking to cut down on his appearances for Team India across formats. Pandya, on the other hand, is six years younger and leads the Indian T20 team.
Explaining the rationale behind the decision, the franchise’s global head of performance Mahela Jayawardene said in a press release that Mumbai Indians want to be ‘future-ready’.
“It is part of legacy building and staying true to the MI philosophy of being future-ready. Mumbai Indians have always been blessed with exceptional leadership right from Sachin to Harbhajan and Ricky to Rohit, who while contributing to the immediate success have always had an eye on strengthening the team for the future. It is in keeping with this philosophy that Hardik Pandya will assume captaincy of Mumbai Indians for the IPL 2024 season,” Jayawardene said,
“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. His leadership has not only brought unparalleled success to the team but has also solidified his place as one of the finest captains in the history of the IPL,” the former Sri Lankan captain added.
In 2013, Mumbai had got off to a poor start under Ricky Ponting’s captaincy. The management then decided to turn to Rohit, and the rest is history.
Mumbai will hope Pandya turns out to be just as successful, after having led Gujarat Titans to two successive finals – emerging champions in 2022 and being runners-up in 2023.
“The feeling of coming back to Mumbai is very special for a lot of reasons. How my cricketing journey started in 2015 with MI, them noticing me in 2013… When I look back, the whole span of 10 years has been something very special. It has not sunk in yet that I’m finally back where my whole cricketing journey started. I have achieved all the possible things,” Pandya said on his return to his first IPL franchise.
