File photo of Rohit Sharma (left) and Hardik Pandya.© BCCI
In the upcoming Indian Premier League season, it will be Hardik Pandya who will lead five-time champions Mumbai Indians. In December last year, MI traded Hardik in an all-cash deal from Gujarat Titans and later appointed him as skipper. Rohit, who led MI to five titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020, will be in the team but will no longer be the captain. Speaking about the surprising change that Mumbai has made, South African great AB de Villiers said it has created “major controversy”.
“Mumbai Indians, incredibly successful team of the IPL. They have won (IPL title) five times. Big controversy in recent months has been Hardik Pandya coming in as new captain in place of Rohit Sharma. However, they seem to be happy. They seemed to have moved on. It's great to have Hardik Pandya back in blue for his home side, playing for Mumbai Indians. They will start against Gujarat Titans, how ironic is that,” De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
Last year's runners-up GT and MI will face off in a mouth-watering showdown on March 24 in Ahmedabad. The match has generated a lot of hype due to star all-rounder Hardik's move to his former franchise MI after two stellar seasons with GT, during which he won the trophy captaining the side in their debut season in 2022.
While Pandya will lead MI this time, Shubman Gill has taken over as GT's captaincy.
The 17th season of IPL will begin on March 22, with defending champions Chennai Super Kings set to take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in a South Indian derby at their home arena – MA Chidambaram Stadium.
The schedule till April 7 has been revealed as of now while the rest will be announced later due to the upcoming Lok Sabha Polls, the dates of which are yet to be announced.
(With ANI inputs)
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