The return of Hardik Pandya to the Mumbai Indians (MI) during the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) hasn't gone as expected.
Hardik was released by MI ahead of the 2022 auctions and snapped up by new entrants Gujarat Titans (GT). The franchise named the all-rounder as the captain and he led GT to the IPL title in their debut season itself, followed by a runners-up finish in 2023.
BET NOW: Exclusive sign-up offers and bonuses when you bet on IPL action
Hardik returned to MI for IPL 2024, the team where it all began for him in 2015. While his return was met with a mixed response, the decision to promote him as the captain at the expense of Rohit Sharma has received a lot of flak online, as well as from a few pundits.
MI have played three games in IPL 2024 so far, but they haven't managed to win a single one of them. Could the poor run of form prompt the management to go back to a seasoned campaigner in Rohit to lead the team for the rest of the season? The Sporting News takes a look.
MORE: 'Players should accept him as their captain' - Harbhajan Singh weighs in on Hardik Pandya at MI
Former cricketers believe Rohit Sharma could be made MI captain again
Manoj Tiwary, best known for his stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), spoke on the Cricbuzz post-match show after MI's most recent loss, which came against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Monday (April 1).
Tiwary stated that Rohit, who led MI to five IPL titles between 2013 to 2020, could be handed the captaincy.
Mumbai's captaincy could be handed back to Rohit Sharma. What I understand is that the owners of Mumbai Indians don't hesitate in making decisions. They made the call of taking the captaincy from Rohit and giving it to Hardik Pandya despite Rohit winning five IPL titles for them.
Changing the captain is a very big call. They have not picked up a single point this season. And the captaincy is also all over the place, it's not just bad luck and the captaincy has been very good, that's not the case. The captaincy has not been great.
Tiwary added that Hardik has been feeling the heat following the negative reception at all the three grounds MI have played at (Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Mumbai).
It (Hardik opting to not bowl in home game vs Rajasthan) is a clue that Hardik is under pressure. If he is not bowling, having bowled in the first two games, and in conditions where there was swing on offer in both first and second innings, I think he felt the pressure with the kind of reception he received.
I have this feeling that during this break (MI next play on April 7), Rohit Sharma could be given back the captaincy from Hardik Pandya.
Another former cricketer Aakash Chopra, who's on commentating duties for IPL 2024, speculated that Hardik could allegedly be removed from the role of captain.
Taking to his official X (formerly Twitter) account in February, Chopra tweeted, "Why do I feel we will have a team changing its captain in the middle of this IPL season?"
Now, on Wednesday (April 3), he quoted the aforementioned tweet and said, "Are we getting closer to this with every game?"
Are we getting closer to this with every game?? 🫣🤐 https://t.co/mVD6RXWibl
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 3, 2024
It remains to be seen if the MI management actually take the bold call of reinstating Rohit as the captain.
MI's next game is scheduled to take place on April 7, against Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Learn more >