Captain or no captain Rohit Sharma is an important cog in Mumbai Indians' scheme of things in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Under him, Mumbai Indians became one of the most successful IPL franchises alongside Chennai Super Kings. This time Rohit Sharma will no longer lead Mumbai Indians, who will be captained by Hardik Pandya. While Mumbai Indians started training for IPL 2024 a few days, Rohit Sharma took a break after India's Test series against England.
On Monday, the Indian cricket team captain finally joined the camp and the franchises announced his arrival in the most unique way possible. In a video post with the caption, "Woh aa gaya...Ro aa gaya (Rohit is here)" a boy can be seen telling his friend: "Woh aa gaya. Jo garden mein ghoomne nahi deta."
It attributes to one of Rohit's viral comment during India vs England Test series where he told youngsters to field with intensity and not like someone who were roaming around a garden.
Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya on Monday said his predecessor Rohit Sharma will continue to be a guiding force for him during the IPL despite the unexpected change of leadership that the franchise announced ahead of the upcoming season, triggering a "backlash" from the fans.
Pandya, who led Gujarat Titans in the past two seasons, is back at Mumbai Indians as captain for the 2024 edition. Having led Mumbai Indians to five titles, Rohit was surprisingly replaced by Pandya going into the upcoming season.
"It will not be any different, he will always be there to help me. You mentioned that he is the captain of the Indian team, which helps me because this team, what it has achieved, it has achieved under him "...from now onwards, it is (about) what he has achieved, I just have to carry forward that," Pandya said at a media interaction here.
"I don't think it will be any awkward or any different. It will be nice feeling because we have been playing for 10 years. I have played my whole career under him and he is going to have his hand on my shoulder throughout the season," he added.