Fans have expressed their discontent with Mumbai's management and Hardik Pandya over this controversial move.
Rohit Sharma is emerging as a formidable opener in the IPL 2024, consistently providing the Mumbai Indians with strong starts this season. His impressive performances have sparked criticism of the franchise's decision to replace him as captain and appoint Hardik Pandya as skipper. Fans have expressed their discontent with Mumbai's management and Hardik Pandya over this controversial move.
Former Indian player Robin Uthappa has presented statistics to illustrate how Rohit Sharma's performance has declined over the years.
During his appearance on the TRS podcast, Robin Uthappa discussed the transition of captaincy from Ricky Ponting to Rohit Sharma. He highlighted the crucial support provided by senior players such as Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh to the young captain.
"Hardik Pandya is their discovery. They did it through their scouting methods. So they are essentially looking at a pure Mumbai Indians boy. When captaincy was given to Rohit Sharma it was taken from Ricky Ponting in the middle of the season. This is the same franchise. All the senior guys Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, and Ricky Ponting supported Rohit," Uthappa said in the TRS podcast.
"In the last four years, statistically... I'm never gonna question the caliber and the gloriousness of Rohit Sharma the batter. But look at it from a franchise perspective. They won in 2020. They didn't win in the last three years. And the last three years, Rohit scored less than 300 runs (only once). So there's a lack of success as a batter, a lack of success as a captain. In just the IPL cause everywhere else, he has scored runs," Uthappa added.
Robin Uthappa also discussed the technical reasoning behind Mumbai Indians' decision to change their captain. It was evident to all during the ICC World Cup 2023 that Rohit Sharma is not only a great player but also an exceptional captain.
“So there is a reason MI landed on this consensus that maybe we have to look beyond Rohit. Maybe this conversation came about at the end of the last season. They may have conversations in different directions. Then Rohit Sharma's success at the ODI World Cup came through. His greatness as a player and leader was there for everyone to see," the former batter said.
"The narrative was thrown up in the air but was yet to land but for Mumbai Indians, it landed last year itself, perhaps. From their perspective, they felt they were right. If you look at how they operated before, to how they are operating now, it's the same. They have been consistent, so how can you fault them?" Uthappa added.
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 "'Had to look beyond Rohit because....': Robin Uthappa on why Mumbai Indians switched to Hardik Pandya in IPL 2024")
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