Mumbai Indians pulled off a big surprise by replacing Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya ahead of IPL 2024.
Amid backlash regarding the change of guard by Mumbai Indians, skipper Hardik Pandya and his predecessor Rohit Sharma met and hugged each other during the team’s practice session at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday, March 20.
Mumbai Indians pulled off a big surprise by replacing Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya ahead of IPL 2024. The announcement came just few weeks after the all-rounder was traded to five-time IPL champions by Gujarat Titans, with whom he won maiden title as a captain in their debut season.
Since then, Mumbai Indians have been at the receiving end of the fans who questioned the franchise for removing Rohit from leadership duties despite leading the team to record five titles. Also, there has been debate surrounding the camaraderie between players following the change of captaincy, especially concerning Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma.
In a viral video shared by Mumbai Indians on its Instagram handle, Hardik Pandya can be seen walking towards Rohit Sharma and hugged him in a friendly. Then, the duo had a fun chat during the team’s training session in Mumbai.
Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy reins of Mumbai Indians from Ricky Ponting in midway IPL 2013 and captained the team to their maiden title of the tournament. Since, Rohit led MI to four more titles in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. The 36-year-old is the only winning captain of Mumbai Indians and the joint-most successful skipper along CSK captain MS Dhoni in the history of IPL.