The conversation surrounding Hardik Pandya replacing Rohit Sharma as the Mumbai Indians skipper ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 has been dominating headlines for quite some time. Pandya completed a sensational trade to MI following two successful years with Gujarat Titans and his appointment as the skipper ended Rohit's ten-year tenure at the helm of the franchise. Recently, MI coach Mark Boucher offered an explanation regarding the move but it was met with a lot of criticism including a reaction from Rohit's wife Ritika Sajdeh. Just days after the incident, the internet was once again abuzz with reports claiming that the two cricketers have now unfollowed each other on Instagram.
However, the authenticity of the rumours were not confirmed and the social media users provided multiple perspectives. While there were some who wrote that the duo never followed each other on Instagram, there were some who said that it was Hardik who stopped following Rohit and not the other way round.
Earlier, Boucher opened up on removing Rohit Sharma as captain, saying the franchise wants the star batter to add more value to the team as a batter and enjoy his game.
Mumbai Indians (MI), the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, announced in December that talismanic all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who returned to the Mumbai franchise after guiding the Gujarat Titans to the IPL title in its debut season and the final in the subsequent edition, will be leading the team in the 2024 edition of the league.
This meant removing Rohit as the skipper, who had led the franchise to five titles since starting his reign in 2013.
In November last year, Pandya moved back from Gujarat Titans (GT) to his former franchise as part of a trade between both franchises. The star all-rounder spent two momentous years with GT, spearheading their campaign in the cash-rich league with aplomb. In GT's debut season in 2022, Hardik got them off to a fairytale start, with the team lifting the coveted trophy.
They finished runners-up in their second season after a last-ball defeat to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in a thrilling final earlier this year.
(With ANI inputs)