"Not everything goes your way," acknowledged Rohit Sharma on Thursday as he reflected on a whirlwind last few months during which he lost his IPL captaincy to Hardik Pandya before finding him as his deputy for next month's T20 World Cup. One of India's most admired cricketers, Rohit's removal as captain of Mumbai Indians surprised many in the fraternity and was a bitter pill to swallow for his legion of fans, many of whom also booed Hardik while he led the team out in the first few matches this IPL season.
"See, it is part of life. Not everything will go your way. It has been a great experience," the Indian skipper said during a media interaction where he was asked about his experience of playing under Pandya in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
There has been a lot of conjecture about Rohit's relationship with Pandya and how Mumbai Indians as a franchise handled the leadership issue, which many believe wasn't done in the best way, especially when it involved someone who has led the franchise to five IPL title triumphs.
Rohit is a tough cookie and the genial exterior concealed his real feelings as he said that playing under Pandya is no different from playing under any other captain.
"Before (also), I have not been captain and I have played under a lot of captains. It is no different or new to me," said Rohit, who has played under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli for India apart from being led by Adam Gilchrist, Harbhajan Singh and Ricky Ponting in franchise cricket.
The 37-year-old received his share of flak for not scoring enough runs with the willow during the previous three seasons but he looked a different deal altogether in the 17th edition of the tournament.
"Whatever is there and you go by it and then try and do what is required from you as a player. I have only tried to do that in the last one month or so," Rohit doused any fire that the question would have ignited.
India captain Rohit has scored 314 runs in 10 innings of IPL 2024 so far.
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