When Hardik Pandya was named as the new captain of Mumbai Indians, it sent shockwaves throughout the IPL landscape especially with the auction coming up.
This development has seen fans react in various manners and MI lost more than 500,000 Instagram followers within 24 hours.
While it has also raised questions on Rohit Sharma's future at Mumbai Indians, it also has wider ramifications for Team India with the 2024 T20 World Cup unfolding next year.
Rohit Sharma, who led MI to five IPL titles, also led India to the 2023 ODI World Cup final recently. There have been clamours for Rohit to lead India in the 2024 T20 World Cup as well, given that he has been very aggressive with this batting of late.
But will the MI captaincy change affect the India T20 captaincy as well?
Who will captain India in the 2024 T20 World Cup?
Rohit Sharma is India's defacto captain in all formats after taking over from Virat Kohli in 2021. However, after failing to guide India to the final of the 2022 T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma has not played any T20Is for India.
This has meant that Hardik Pandya has captained India in the T20 format, with Suryakumar Yadav taking over the reins after the 2023 ODI World Cup, with Rohit rested and Pandya injured.
It has to be noted that India have not officially handed the T20 captaincy to Hardik Pandya.
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And there have been clamours for Rohit to lead India in the 2024 T20 World Cup as well, after he almost led India to an ODI World Cup victory recently.
However, the fact that MI have decided to hand over their captaincy to Hardik Pandya has put a huge doubt in whether Rohit will be captain in the T20 World Cup.
Pandya himself will be eager to lead India in the tournament set to be held in the Caribbean and USA.
Which team has the biggest purse for IPL 2024 mini auction?
Is Rohit Sharma still India's first-choice for T20 World Cup captaincy?
Reports have surfaced that claim that Rohit continues to be BCCI's first choice to be captain in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
However, given that IPL 2024 will be held right before the 2024 T20 World Cup, things can change quickly. If Hardik Pandya manages to have a successful IPL with MI, he could be a serious candidate to lead India in the World Cup.
But if he does fail as a captain, it will lead to more clamours for Rohit to return as India's T20 captain.
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