IPL 2024: Former India captain and legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar has supported Mumbai Indians (MI) appointing Hardik Pandya as the captain in place of Rohit Sharma. He said that MI has taken this decision keeping in mind the interest of the team and it will benefit in the times to come. Let the fans know that after Hardik was handed over the command of MI, The opinions of former players and cricket experts are quite divided. At the same time, many people also expressed surprise over Hardik being given the captaincy.
Please note that Hardik has returned home after the cash deal between MI and Gujarat Titans (GT). He made his IPL debut for Mumbai in 2015. He joined GT before IPL 2022. He drove GT for two seasons. Under Hardik’s captaincy, GT won the trophy in 2022 and finished as runners-up in 2023. He will now be seen taking the reins of Mumbai in IPL 2024.
Gavaskar told Star Sports, “We should not get into the trap of right and wrong. But, the decision he has taken is for the benefit of the team. In the last two years, Rohit’s contribution, even with the bat, diminished a bit. Earlier, he would often score big, but that has not happened in the last two years. Two years ago the team stood at number 9 or number 10 and after that did not even qualify for the playoffs.
Gavaskar said, “We missed seeing the charisma of Rohit Sharma which we had been seeing for the last few years. Perhaps, he is a little tired due to playing cricket continuously. He felt a little tired due to captaining the Indian team and leading the franchise.
Read Also – Rohit Sharma will remain the captain of team India in T20 World Cup 2024: Report
I think the franchise has given the reins to Hardik keeping in mind that he is a young captain, and that has given the results. Hardik has taken Gujarat to the finals twice and he led them to the trophy in 2022. I think Mumbai has made Hardik the captain considering all these things.”
Gavaskar further said, “Sometimes, you need new thinking. Hardik has come with that new thinking. I think Mumbai Indians will benefit from this decision. This decision will not cause any harm to them. It is noteworthy that Mumbai won five IPL titles under the leadership of Rohit.
Mumbai won its last title in 2020. MI could not reach the playoffs in 2021 and 2022. The franchise finished at the bottom 10th position in the points table in 2022. Mumbai had journeyed till Qualifier-2 in IPL 2023.
Read Also – Hardik Pandya to lead Mumbai Indians IPL 2024, Rohit’s golden journey is over
