Mumbai Indians have named Hardik Pandya as the captain of Mumbai Indians for IPL 2024 replacing Rohit Sharma.
New Delhi: Newly-appointed captain Hardik Pandya will bring in fresh thinking to Mumbai Indians, opined legendary Sunil Gavaskar, a day before the IPL Auction 2024. Under Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians didn’t yield the best of results in the past three years as Gavaskar felt the former looked fatigued and didn’t contribute enough with the bat. Mumbai Indians brought Hardik from Gujarat Titans in an all-cash trade deal worth Rs 15 crores.
Rohit and Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni are the most successful captains in the IPL, guiding their teams to five titles each in the lucrative league. Rohit, who is also the captain of Indian cricket team, stated that the Mumbaikar is taking a lot of toll on himself as he has been managing four (Indian T20I, ODI, Test sides and Mumbai Indians) sides since 2011.
“See, we don’t have to look at it (decision to appoint Hardik as MI captain) as right or wrong. The decision they (MI) have taken has been for the benefit of the team. We can say that the contribution of Rohit, even with the bat, has become slightly lesser,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
“Earlier, there used to be a lot of contribution (with bat) from Rohit, but in the last few years, they have finished at number 9 or 10. And last year they qualified for the playoffs, but the ‘josh’ (enthusiasm) of Mumbai Indians was not there to be seen as we have seen in the past.
“Maybe because he has played cricket continuously he must have been fatigued, constantly captaining the Indian side and then Mumbai Indians,” added Gavaskar. Hardik joined Mumbai Indians in 2015 and grew in stature to be one of the best all-rounders in the country at present.
However, after spending seven years at MI and winning four IPL titles, Pandya went to Gujarat Titans. He led Gujarat Titans to their maiden IPL title on debut in 2022 before leading them to another final in the following year.
“So, the decision that they have taken, he is a young player, young in terms of captaining a side, who has proven himself, taking Gujarat Titans to the finals twice and winning it once. So with the same thought process, they have made him captain,” Gavaskar added.
“Because sometimes you need that fresh thinking, and he can bring that fresh thinking and I think the decision that has been taken, Mumbai Indians can benefit from it and won’t damage them,” he added.