File photo of Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma© BCCI/Sportzpics
Removing a captain of Rohit Sharma's stature and replacing him with Hardik Pandya is certainly a bid. Mumbai Indians did not hesitate to make the call ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction, but a section of fans are understandably not happy with the change. However, former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan believes that the decision was taken by MI keeping in mind the 'long-term benefits' that the franchise hopes to reap by making Hardik the skipper.
Rohit led Mumbai Indians in 10 IPL seasons and won the title in 5 of them. Hadik, on the other hand, has a similar success rate, although his sample size at Gujarat Titans is quite small. In two seasons as captain of GT, Hardik won one title while reaching the final in the other.
“If you look at the franchise itself, they have had a very progressive, logic-driven and future-proof strategy style for a long time,” Morgan told the Times of India. “A decision like this reinforces that the franchise always comes first.”
“You probably see this as a difficult decision they have made, in the hope that the long-term benefits will see MI win another championship in the years to come. So in a way you have to admire the courage it takes to make a decision like that because not every team would make that decision,” he further said.
A lot is changing in Rohit's cricket career, and there are also question marks over his future as captain of India's white-ball teams.
With the T20 World Cup set to be held next year, reports suggest that Rohit currently appears to be the selection committee's No. 1 choice despite not having played a T20 international since the conclusion of the 2022 T20 World Cup. .
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