IPL 2024: Mumbai Indians’ (MI) captaincy controversy involving Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya is far from over. The leadership turmoil and the unrest among the fans have triggered various parties, who have called out to the fan clubs to not spread unnecessary hate on any individual, especially Hardik Pandya.
Things got ugly when Hardik Pandya was booed by Mumbai Indians’ (MI) home crowd at the Wankhede Stadium when Hardik came for the toss. Things went dirty to the extent that Sanjay Mangrekar, the toss representative, had to urge the fans to “behave.”
The chaos began as Mumbai Indians (MI) announced their succession planning with Hardik Pandya replacing Rohit Sharma as the leader of the side. It’s noteworthy that it wasn’t a smooth transition, as we saw in the case of CSK where Dhoni stepped down and Ruturaj Gaikwad was asked to lead.
The five-time IPL champions abruptly announced Hardik Pandya as the leader of the pack for the IPL 2024 and ahead, replacing Rohit Sharma, who has led the side successfully for more than a decade. The decision, though, made sense to some, but most couldn’t comprehend what had happened, or they were not ready to accept what was thrown at them.
While the unrest among the fans is apparent, there seem to be some issues among the players as well. A few days ago, a report published on Dainik Jagran, pointed out that Mumbai Indians (MI) is divided into two factions – one involving Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan and others, while the other side had the likes of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Tilak Varma.
Rohit Sharma vs Hardik Pandya MI captaincy controversy
Commenting along similar lines, seasoned broadcaster Harsha Bhogle has pinned a fresh take on this Rohit Sharma vs Hardik Pandya MI captaincy controversy.
Bhogle, who has been through thick and thin of the games, noted that there are not two, but five major parties involved in the ongoing MI captaincy issue.
“What about Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav? Suryakumar Yadav has been the captain of Mumbai before. Given the kind of person, he was as noticed by Gautam Gambhir, they made him vice-captain of Kolkata Knight Riders very early, you would have said look I love Rohit, if not Rohit why not me? And Jasprit Bumrah would have had exactly the same situation. I have been captain of India in a Test match, I am a very cerebral bowler, I read the game well, I am at the height of my powers then why not me? So, they are unhappy. Now with all these things in perspective, you have got to make sure your side wins,” Bhogle said on his YouTube channel.
Interestingly, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav had shared some cryptic Instagram stories soon after Mumbai announced a shift in the leadership position.
“All I will say to all the actors in this drama, do not see what’s being said on social media. I tell that to every young player. But it’s not easy to do that. I have learnt to do it but I am much older and I had learnt after a lot of experience. That is from the fans’ point of view because the fans are the heart and soul of our game and you got to look after them,” he added.
