There are hints of unrest in the Mumbai Indians camp. The media speculations were given more fire when newly appointed captain Hardik Pandya and head coach Mark Boucher avoiding questions about the leadership change and Rohit Sharma in their pre-IPL press event.
Before this year’s auctions, Pandya was traded from the Gujarat Titans to MI, and that’s when it all started off. The fans were ecstatic about this move. Pandya did, after all, establish his reputation at MI alone. GT were initially hesitated the move, while Pandya had a captaincy clause upon his signing.
After the trade was confirmed, MI announced Pandya as their captain, replacing Rohit Sharma. This sparked endless speculation, as Rohit – who shares the record of five IPL titles – will become the first current Indian captain to play under a domestic teammate. The only other case was when MS Dhoni, then India’s white-ball captain, played just as a player for Rising Pune Supergiant under Australian Steve Smith in IPL 2017.
What is the status of MI? MI’s young guns Vishnu Vinod, Kumar Kartikeya, and Akash Madhwal shared video of Rohit’s first practice with the squad ahead of IPL 2024, showing their excitement about the return.
Pandya acknowledged that he faced backlash from many fans for his decision to leave the Gujarat Titans and take over as captain of the Mumbai Indians instead of Rohit.
Mumbai Indians will face Gujarat Titans on 24th March at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
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