Hardik Pandya was announced as the captain of the IPL (Indian Premier League) side, Mumbai Indians, back in December 2023. It was an absurd end to Rohit Sharma's glorious story as the captain of Mumbai Indians. Despite taking Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles, seeing Rohit replaced by Hardik, who was not in action due to an injury in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, was an unnecessary decision in many people's eyes.
Mumbai Indians' owners, Akash Ambani and Nita Ambani also faced a lot of criticism over their decision to remove Rohit Sharma from captaincy despite his exceptional captaincy in India's 2023 World Cup campaign. The mother-son duo have never reacted or given a direct response to the questions regarding Hardik Pandya replacing Rohit Sharma as MI captain.
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However, Mumbai Indians' global head of performance, Mahela Jayawardene, opened up about Hardik Pandya replacing Rohit Sharma as captain in an old interview. The iconic cricketer clearly stated that it was a decision based on MI's philosophy of being 'future-ready'.
The decision was finalised and announced by the owners of Mumbai Indians, Nita Ambani and Akash Ambani, back in December 2023. People could do nothing other than make emotional edits on Instagram. However, the captaincy row is all over the headlines once again after Mumbai Indians suffered a heavy defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.
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Mumbai Indians lost the second match of their IPL 2024 campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad by 31 runs as Hardik Pandya registered his worst defeat as an IPL captain. While the team's skipper scored 24 runs in 20 balls, Rohit Sharma contributed 26 runs in just 12 balls.
During the bowling, Rohit Sharma even instructed his captain, Hardik to go back and field along the boundary line. The moment received a loud cheer from the crowd, and the video went viral on social media as netizens advised MI's owners to turn over their decision.
After the match was done and dusted, Rohit Sharma was spotted having a discussion with the owners of his team, Nita Ambani and Akash Ambani. Reports are rife that there's a slight possibility that Rohit could be announced as the captain of the team if the Mumbai Indians continue to perform like this under Hardik Pandya's captaincy. Amidst all this row around Hardik being appointed as Mumbai Indians' captain, it is time to explore the possible reasons behind Nita Ambani and Akash Ambani's decision to pick him up as Rohit Sharma's successor.
Hardik Pandya started his IPL (Indian Premier League) journey back in 2015 with Mumbai Indians and left them in 2021. During his time at Mumbai Indians, he won the IPL four times (2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020). Ahead of the IPL 2022, he decided to leave Mumbai Indians for Gujarat Titans, who were set to make their IPL debut. The cricketer played for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022 as their captain, leading them to their maiden title.
It was a huge moment for Hardik Pandya as it was his first title as a captain. The star all-rounder left everyone stunned with his leadership and received much praise when he took the Gujarat Titans to another final in IPL 2023. Unfortunately, Hardik lost the match to Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings by five wickets through the DLS Method. For many people, Hardik's exceptional display of leadership at Gujarat Titans is the possible reason why he was chosen as the captain of Mumbai Indians.
Mumbai Indians coach, Mark Boucher opened up about Hardik Pandya replacing Rohit Sharma as captain in a conversation on Smash Sports Podcast. The legendary wicket-keeper batsman clearly stated that Indians need to control their emotions to understand the necessary steps for the team. Boucher also stated that freeing Rohit Sharma from the burden of captaincy will allow him to focus more on his batting, which will be significant for the team. He explained:
"A lot of people don't understand in India, people get quite emotional, but you know you take the emotions away from it. I think it's just more of a cricketing decision that was made and I do think it is going to bring the best out of Rohit as a person as a player. Just let him go out and enjoy and score some good runs."
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Rohit Sharma is currently 36, and on April 30, he will be turning 37. With age not being on his side, there's a huge possibility that Mumbai Indians decided to turn their hopes on Hardik Pandya, who is just 30 at the moment.
The selectors and owners of Mumbai Indians know that in the next 3-4 years, Rohit Sharma will be in his 40s and at that time, they will require a strong personality, who can fill up his shoes, but for that the decision has to be made now. Rohit's age is among the most speculated reasons behind Hardik's appointment as Mumbai Indians' captain.
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It is a well-known fact that the former captain-coach duo of Gujarat Titans, Hardik Pandya and Ashish Nehra were a nightmare for all the teams in the IPL. Hardik and Ashish's bond was second to none, and with back-to-back finals and winning title in IPL 2022, it wasn't easy to snatch Hardik from GT. As per reports, it was when Mumbai Indians decided to include the captaincy perk in their deal. Although there's no confirmation about the same as of now, but netizens are convinced that if the owners of Mumbai Indians had not offered captaincy to Hardik, he had never left Gujarat Titans.
Out of all these reasons, which one, in your opinion, made Nita Ambani and Akash Ambani pick Hardik Pandya to replace Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians' captain? Let us know.
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