It was on Friday that Mumbai Indians announced Hardik Pandya as their new skipper for IPL 2024, after removing Rohit Sharma from the top post, but since then, the topic has ceased to get over. It has been much talked about by the fans, and the ex-players as well, with everyone letting their opinion know.
One of the IPL stars from a few years back, South African AB De Villiers has reacted to the entire controversy, and said that a few people ‘took it personally’. “I think there are a lot of people happy about it, a lot of people are upset about it. I read a post that said Mumbai Indians’ social platform lost like 1 million followers. I am not sure how accurate that is but obviously some people took it a bit personally with Rohit having to move on and make place for Hardik,” AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
In fact, De Villiers was in support of the change and felt that it was time for Rohit to enjoy the game, and give the pressure to someone else. “I don’t think it is a bad move for Mumbai Indians. (It’s) something new. Rohit has had fantastic success over the years, winning a lot of trophies. Maybe being the captain for India puts a lot of pressure on him as well. Now it’s maybe just time for him to settle a bit and play and enjoy the game and give the pressure to someone else.
“That could be the reason. I don’t think it could go any deeper than that. I don’t think Hardik would have come in with a dominating mentality saying like, ‘I am not playing if I am not captain.’ I don’t think it went along these lines.
“I really do think Rohit made a strategic decision for himself, to get himself a bit rested and be fresher for his batting skills and make sure that he scores runs.”
