Former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh feels the Mumbai Indians (MI) could have retained Rohit Sharma as captain for another season, with Hardik Pandya as his deputy.
MI welcomed Pandya back into the club in an all-cash exchange with the Gujarat Titans (GT). The all-rounder was then named captain, succeeding Rohit Sharma.
The move sent shockwaves around the IPL circuit, with some analysts and fans denouncing it.
Yuvraj Singh spoke with Star Sports before of the IPL 2024 about the decision to remove Rohit from the MI leadership.
“Rohit Sharma is a five-time IPL winner as a captain. Removing him is a big decision,” he said. “I would have gotten someone in, like they brought Hardik (Pandya), but I still would have given Rohit one more season and let Hardik be the vice captain and see how the whole franchise works.”
Yuvraj Singh
However, Yuvraj stated his understanding of why the franchise chose in that manner.
“I understand from the franchise’s point of view, they have to see the future of the franchise. But then again, Rohit is captaining India and still playing well, so it’s a big decision.”
Yuvraj Singh
Rohit took over as MI captain in the 2013 IPL season and has guided the team to five championships.
Meanwhile, Hardik was a part of four of those championship campaigns, having been with the team from 2015 to 2021 before switching to GT.
“Being captain of Gujarat will be different from being captain of Mumbai” – Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh has advised Hardik Pandya about the very different expectations for guiding MI vs captaining GT.
The 30-year-old guided the Gujarat Titans to victory in their first IPL season in 2022, and nearly repeated the feat last year with a last-ball defeat to CSK in the final.
“In terms of talent, yes, he has great talent. Being captain of Gujarat will be different from being captain of Mumbai. Expectations are a lot. Mumbai Indians have been a big side.”
Yuvraj Singh
In recent times, Hardik has been Indian captain for T20Is after the 2022 World Cup, with great results of winning 10 matches out of 16.
As MI captain, his first job funnily comes against GT, when both teams start their IPL 2024 season on March 24 in Ahmedabad. It was GT who knocked MI out in Qualifier 2 last year.