Mumbai Indians replacing Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as the skipper ahead of IPL 2024 came to the surprise of a few, not so surprising for many. For many months, and even more so after the agonizing loss at the World Cup 2023 finals, speculations about the Hitman’s future in the shortest format has been doing rounds. That air was cleared for a brief bit when Sharma announced his ambition to clinch the T20 World Cup.
The Indian opener’s words hinted that he would still very much be a part of India’s T20 setup. Will he lead the side? Will he play under a new captain? That, time will only tell. However, it is a strategic move to relax Rohit down a bit before the marquee event in 2024, considering the hectic schedule heading into the World Cup.
A boon more than a bane for Rohit Sharma
For Rohit Sharma, the taking away of his captaincy duty might benefit him than doing more harm to him. The 5-time IPL trophy winner has had a lean patch that has lasted over the last couple of IPLs. Not to forget, the add on pressure of leading and managing a side such as MI for a decade. As Wasim Jaffer rightfully pointed out to ESPNCricinfo, this break might as well give the Hitman a breather from the IPL fatigue and help him focus on his batting.
In 163 matches as captain, Rohit actively secured victory 91 times, faced defeat 68 times, and had four tied matches. Not to mention, the five titles that he has in his cabinet, courtesy of leading MI from the front. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya has captained GT for 31 matches – won 22 games and lost 9 matches. He has an excellent record of 70.97 win percentage. The difference between the two is enormous, the least to say.
Another reason why Rohit Sharna shouldn’t lead MI would be Test series against England. Commencing on January 25, the five-match series will be played pretty much up until the IPL in March. It is for sure that Sharma will lead India in the series against England and hence when he does return to action in the IPL a few days later, he surely wouldn’t mind letting go of the captaincy burden to relax and refresh himself.
For the Indian opener, the IPL will be the only audition before heading into the T20 World Cup. With his hopes of winnings the ODI World Cup crumbled, a title win in the shortest format’s marquee event is the only solace. It will perhaps be for once that even Rohit hopes that his bat will do the most talking in the IPL – what will be required for MI and the most for Team India.
Captain Hardik Pandya just an IPL bully?
When it comes to Hardik Pandya, he too is a contender for captaincy in the national scheme of things. However, if only HP can find a way to remain uinjured for a consistent period of time, he could be a front runner for the position for any format. With just one title win under his belt coupled with a few international games as captain and perhaps not a single first-class game as captain, Pandya has very little to boast about the ability to lead from the front.
Mumbai Indians are heading in the right direction to shape a new generation team. As they have always been, the side has maintained the culture of scouting, rearing and chiseling world-class players who form the core of the franchise. Hardik Pandya’s homecoming is nothing but the return of the student to the academy who got promoted to the position of the head boy while the old guard passed the baton, maybe or maybe not, unwilllingly.
Filling in ‘bigger’ shoes?
When Rohit Sharma took over the Mumbai Indians’ captaincy from Sachin Tendulkar in 2013, little did he know that he would become one of the most successful captains in IPL history. There was very little opposition, from fans and team, to the Hitman replacing the legenday Master Blaster. Nothing at the scale of what HP is recieving currently.
Rohit did have very big shoes to fill in when he replaced Tendulkar. Over the last decade, the Hitman has effectively managed to build, nuture, manage and lead one of the best sides in IPL. However, when it comes to Hardik Pandya, the question that hovers is that if he is currently at the same spot where Rohit was in 2013.
Hardik has a long way to go in terms of gaining captaincy experience. But he can only go the distance with support from the fans. It would be unimaginable what would be MI’s status today if Rohit had faced the same flak while taking over the reins from Tendulkar. Whether Hardik will emulate Rohit and become even better, only time will tell but it is essential for the fans to give value, respect and backing to the new skipper as well.
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