'Rohit Sharma is already 36': Gavaskar shares his take on Hardik Pandya becoming MI captain for IPL 2024
'Rohit is already 36': Gavaskar on Hardik becoming MI skipper for IPL 2024
In Dec 2023, Mumbai Indians (MI) dropped a bombshell by announcing Hardik Pandya as the skipper, putting an end to Rohit Sharma's glorious run as Mumbai captain from 2013-2023. Hardik moved back to the MI camp on the retention deadline day, leaving a huge void on Gujarat Titans (GT). The move of Pandya replacing Rohit as the MI captainmet with mixed responses. Now, former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar has reacted to MI's move and said 'Hardik's captaincy is only going to benefit' the franchise.
Talking to Star Sports, Gavaskar opined, "Look they have always thought about the future of the franchise. Rohit Sharma is already 36 years old and also faces immense pressure being the captain of India for all three formats. They have tried to reduce some of that burden and given that responsibility on the young shoulders of Hardik Pandya."
Gavaskar added, "Handing Hardik the captaincy is only going to benefit the Mumbai Indians. They have now given the freedom to Rohit to go and express himself freely at the top of the order. Hardik can then come at No. 3 or No. 5 and help them post totals of 200-plus consistently."
Under Rohit, MI had a dream run from 2013-2023; winning the IPL championship on five occasions. However, Hitman's batting has gone downin the last few seasons. In 2023, he had an ordinary run with 332 runs at 132.80. Since 2019, he has crossed the 400-run mark in a season only once and failed to even touch the 300-run mark in 2022. Hence, with no additional responsibility, Rohit can shine and regain his lost mojo in IPL 2024.
Hardik has led GT to the title in their maiden season in 2022 and the franchise ended second last year. Thus, he has captaincy experience in the IPL and will be confident enough to take over from Rohit in the upcoming season.
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MI squad for IPL 2024
Ishan Kishan, Vishnu Vinod, Rohit Sharma, Tim David, Suryakumar Yadav, N. Tilak Varma, Dewald Brevis, Hardik Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Nehal Wadhera, Shams Mulani, Gerald Coetzee, Mohammad Nabi, Shivalik Sharma, Naman Dhir, Jasprit Bumrah, Jason Behrendorff, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Arjun Tendulkar, Piyush Chawla, Dilshan Madushanka, Nuwan Thushara, Anshul Kamboj, Shreyas Gopal