Mumbai Indians (MI) made a shocking trade deal with IPL 2022 champions Gujarat Giants (GT) which saw their captain Hardik Pandya move to his former franchise ahead of IPL 2024.
Then, in a move that no one saw coming, Pandya was appointed as the captain of MI. Rohit Sharma was shockingly removed from the role as captain, ending his 10-year reign as the leader of the five-time IPL champions.
Fans were extremely unhappy with the decision, with many calling it a shameful decision that disrespected the legacy of Rohit.
In fact, the team lost over half a million followers on Instagram within hours of Pandya's announcement as the new MI captain.
Mumbai Indians lost more than 5 Lakh followers since yesterday. pic.twitter.com/68Op4u4FPN
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 16, 2023
On Tuesday (February 6), MI coach Mark Boucher revealed the real reason behind Pandya replacing Rohit as the new captain in an interview.
Ritika Sajdeh, Rohit's wife, didn't hold back as she replied under the video of the interview on Instagram by writing, "So many things wrong with this..."
Ritika Sajdeh's comment on Mark Boucher's interview talking about Hardik Pandya taking over MI captaincy. (Smash Sports Podcast). pic.twitter.com/5sAAVa5xVu
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) February 6, 2024
What did Mark Boucher say about Rohit Sharma?
The former South African wicketkeeper appeared on the Smash Sports Podcast where he explained the reason behind Rohit's axing as the MI captain, stating that it was a cricketing move and one made to ensure that Rohit focused completely on his batting.
I think it was purely a cricketing decision. We saw the window period to get Hardik back as a player. For me, it's a transition phase. A lot of people don't understand in India. People get quite emotional, but you know you take the emotions away from it.I think it's just more of a cricketing decision that was made, and I do think it is going to bring the best out of Rohit as a person and as a player. Just let him go out and enjoy and score some good runs.
One thing I did pick up with Ro (Rohit) is that he is a fantastic guy. I mean he's been captaining for ages, and he's done really well for Mumbai Indians. Now he also leads India as well. It is that he walks into a place and there are just cameras in it, and he's so busy, and he hasn't had probably the best couple of seasons of late with the bat probably, but he's done well as a captain.
And I just thought, you know, when we're speaking with the whole Mumbai Indians group, we thought that maybe this is the opportunity for him to step up as a player. We believe he has got some great value to add and just go out there and actually enjoy it without the hype of being a captain. He is still going to captain India so that hype's going to be there but when he steps into the IPL, maybe just taking that extra bit of pressure off him as a captain, and maybe we will get the best out of Rohit Sharma.
Mumbai Indians camp divided following the captaincy row?
When MI made the announcement that Pandya would be returning to the franchise, star bowler Jasprit Bumrah created waves online, first by unfollowing MI and then by posting two separate stories on Instagram.
In his first story, Bumrah wrote, "Silence is the best answer." The 30-year-old followed it up with another story that said, "Sometimes being greedy is good and being loyal isn't."
Bumrah insta story 😢 pic.twitter.com/m9FBIhls2d
— Pushkar (@musafir_hu_yar) November 28, 2023
Suryakumar Yadav, another senior member in the MI squad, joined Bumrah in posting a cryptic story on Instagram, immediately after the franchise announced that Pandya would be taking over the captaincy duties from Rohit.
"Mumbai Indians' shake-up sparks controversy! Hardik Pandya's return and captaincy shift from Rohit Sharma cause a stir. Jasprit Bumrah's cryptic post hinted at tension, and now, Suryakumar Yadav adds to the intrigue with a broken heart emoji. 🏏💔 #MIControversy #IPLDrama #Surya pic.twitter.com/xyVpvAHenP
— HINT (@HINT247) December 16, 2023
There is no smoke without fire, and Ritika Sajdeh's reply to Boucher's interview has only added fuel to that fire, strengthening the claims that all is not well in the Mumbai Indians camp.
While many players have been tight-lipped about the controversial captaincy row involving Pandya and Rohit, it certainly seems that there is a lot of discomfort in the MI camp at the moment.
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