[Watch] When Rohit Sharma Foreshadowed Mumbai Indians' Captaincy

image-lqfp18wcRohit Sharma in Mumbai Indians colours (IPLT20.COM)

Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians for 11 successive Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons ever since he was promoted to the high-profile job in the midway of the 2013 edition of the tournament. The cricketer was roped in by the franchise ahead of IPL 2011 itself after he had spent his first three IPL seasons at the Deccan Chargers camp.

As it turns out, Sharma had foreshadowed his Mumbai Indians leadership stint from 2013 onwards during his initial days in the franchise itself, back when Sachin Tendulkar was the team skipper and Harbhajan Singh was his deputy.

The Indian opening batsman admitted the same during a candid chat with national teammate Ravichandran Ashwin on the latter’s YouTube channel.


When Sharma admitted to have foreshadowed IPL captaincy

Rohit Sharma interacted with Ravichandran Ashwin on the latter’s YouTube channel back in May 2020, where he was asked to discuss his IPL success as the captain of the Mumbai Indians team.

Interestingly, at one point of their candid conversation, Sharma revealed that he always expected to land Mumbai Indians’ leadership role, back when he first joined the franchise in 2011 itself as a 23-year-old.

The cricketer said that even though Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh were the captain and vice-captain of the team at the time, he was preparing himself for the top role because he instantly became a member of Mumbai Indians’ core group of players. Rohit Sharma said:

“When I came to Mumbai Indians, they did not announce me as vice-captain. Obviously Paaji (Sachin Tendulkar) was there, and Harbhajan Singh was vice-captain. But I was always in that core group of Mumbai Indians, even from my first year. They used to call me about certain queries, if there were any in the squad. So that was that, now before that year’s auction, I was thinking that there is nobody else. So, I started preparing myself over the possibility, that this (captaincy) might soon come my way so I have to be ready for it.”


In December 2023, Mumbai Indians announced Hardik Pandya as their new captain for the IPL 2024 season, thus bringing conclusion to Rohit Sharma’s decade-long leadership stint for the franchise.

During his 11-year run as Mumbai Indians skipper, Sharma led the team to five IPL titles and one Champions League T20 trophy, thus making them one of the most decorated franchises in tournament’s history.