Former India opener Aakash Chopra has backed Mumbai Indians' Rohit Sharma to come out good with the bat in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. The 17th edition of the T20 event will see Hardik Pandya leading Mumbai Indians, instead of previous captain Rohit Sharma. Under the leadership of Rohit, MI won record five titles but the side in December last year announce the massive change after roping in Hardik from Gujarat Titans during the transfer window. Citing that there is no burden of captaincy on Rohit, Chopra said that the batter is going to score over 600 runs in IPL 2024.
Rohit's performance has been really poor for the past seven IPL seasons. From IPL 2017 to 2023, Rohit averaged 24.76 with the bat.
While Mumbai won three titles between this period, Rohit's contribution with the bat was well below-par. However, Chopra feels that the upcoming season would be a different one for him.
"You have released Rohit Sharma from captaincy. When you talk about top players like Rohit Sharma you see a 600 plus season. But no season seemed like that for him. This could be that season. Because there is nothing to prove per say, but there is a lot to prove. Kaptaan nahi hain toh phir todenge aisa lag raha hai mujhe (Since he is not the captain, he is going to pile a lot of runs)," said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
IPL 2024 is set to begin on March 22 with a match between defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chepauk.
Meanwhile, Hardik-led MI will lead take on Gujarat Titans in their campaign opener in Ahmedabad.
The BCCI has released the schedule only for the first 21 matches of IPL 2024, owing to the Lok Sabha Elections. The remaining schedule will be announced after the date for elections is out.