Mumbai Indians (MI) on Friday announced a massive move. The franchise appointed Hardik Pandya as its captain. The all-rounder, who was recently roped in from Gujarat Titans in an all-cash transfer, replaced Rohit Sharma in the role. Rohit captained MI for 10 years, helping the side win a record-equalling five Indian Premier League (IPL) titles. The change in captaincy didn't go down well with many MI fans. Some reports also claimed that MI's X handle lost a massive amount of followers after the announcement was made.
Reacting to some of the fans' reactions on Hardik replacing Rohit as captain, former South Africa great AB de Villiers said that some people "took it a bit personally".
"I think there are a lof of people happy about it, a lot of people upset about it. I read a post that said Mumbai Indians' social platform lost like 1 million followers. I am not sure how accurate that is but obviously some people took it a bit personally with Rohit having to move on and make place for Hardik," AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
Backing the change in captaincy, the former South Africa captain said: "I don't think it is a bad move for Mumbai Indians. (it's) something new. Rohit has had fantastic success over the years, winning a lot of trophies. Maybe being the captain for India puts a lot of pressure on him as well. Now it's maybe just time for him to settle a bit and play and enjoy the game and give the pressure to someone else.
"That could be the reason. I don't think it could go any deeper than that. I don't think Hardik would have come in with a dominating mentality saying like, 'I am not playing if I am not captain.' I don't think it went along these lines.
"I really do think Rohit made a strategic decision for himself, to get himself a bit rested and be fresher for his batting skills and make sure that he scores runs."