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'Handing Hardik Captaincy...' - Gavaskar Picks His Side In Rohit-Pandya Captaincy Switch

image-lsl9am6aHardik Pandya takes over MI captaincy from Rohit Sharma [X.com]

Even as Mumbai Indians (MI) faced the flak from veteran opener Rohit Sharma's passionate fans for his sacking as captain ahead of IPL 2024, batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar came out in support of the franchise's move to appoint comeback allrounder Hardik Pandya as their new skipper. 

Rohit was removed from the helm of affairs with MI despite transforming their fortunes and making the franchise among the most successful T20 sides in the world, with five IPL trophies in their rich cabinet. 

While head coach Mark Boucher explained it was a futuristic move aligned to also ease the burden on an ageing player's shoulders, fans gave MI a stick as they lost heaps of followers on multiple social media platforms moments after announcing the captaincy switch. 


Gavaskar Backs Pandya's MI Captaincy Appointment 

"Look they have always thought about the future of the franchise. Rohit Sharma is already 36 and also faces immense pressure being the captain of India for all three formats," Gavaskar told Star Sports. 


"They have tried to reduce some of that burden and give that responsibility to a young player like Hardik Pandya who has led a new franchise like the Gujarat Indians to back to back finals and even won the title. This is the thought behind MI for this change."

The Indian batting legend echoed the sentiments expressed by Boucher and said Rohit might inadvertently benefit from allowing Pandya to take up the leadership role after undergoing subsequent lacklustre campaigns with the bat. The 36-year-old made just 268 runs at a strike-rate of 120.18 in IPL 2022 and 332 runs at 132.80 in IPL 2023. 

"Handing Hardik the captaincy is only going to benefit the Mumbai Indians. They have now given the freedom to Rohit to go and express himself freely at the top of the order. Hardik can then come at No.3 or No.5 and help them post totals of 200-plus," he added. 

Pandya returned to the MI set-up ahead of the IPL 2024 mini-auction following a controversial one-way trade with Gujarat Titans (GT), with whom he had become a successful captain for two years, taking the new franchise to the title in 2022 edition before a runners-up finish last season.