IPL Season 17: "You Need Fresh Thinking.."- Sunil Gavaskar Takes His Side In Rohit Sharma vs Hardik Pandya

Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar has finally broken his silence on Rohit Sharma‘s removal as Mumbai Indians skipper. The management named Hardik Pandya as the new captain of the side ahead of IPL 2024.

The management named him the captain after trading him from Gujarat Titans. Oandya led the Titans in IPL 2022 and 2023 taking them to the finals on both occasions. While they won the title in IPL 2022 they lost to CSK in the IPL 2023 final.

Sunil Gavaskar while talking to Star Sports spoke about the possible thought process behind, MI naming Hardik Pandya the new captain. Mumbai finished last on the points table in IPL 2022 with Rohit not having a good season with the bat as well. Thus Gavaskar felt that the Indian skipper might be a little tired with captaincy responsibilities for both club and country.

We Missed Seeing The Mojo In Rohit Sharma: Sunil Gavaskar

“We shouldn’t go into rights and wrongs. But, the decision they have taken is for the benefit of the team. In the last two years, Rohit’s contribution, even with the bat, has dipped a little bit. Earlier, he used to score big, but in the last two years they finished No. 9 or No. 10 the year before last year and in the last year they qualified for the playoffs,” Gavaskar said.

“But we missed seeing the mojo in Rohit Sharma that we used to see in the previous few years. Maybe, he was a little tired because of playing continuous cricket, he was a little tired because of captaincy, leading India and the franchise,” he added.

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Hardik Pandya Is A Young Captain And Hhas Produced Results: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar further spoke about the rationale behind picking Hardik Pandya as the new captain of the Mumbai franchise. He said that Hardik’s yielding results with Gujarat Titans might have prompted the Mumbai franchise to name him as the new captain.

“I feel that the decision, they have kept in mind that Hardik is a young captain who has produced results. Hardik has led Gujarat to the finals twice, and he led them to the title in 2022. I think they have made him captain by considering all this” said Gavaskar.

He further added that the appointment of Hardik Pandya also implies a new thought process by the five-time IPL Champions and a certain transition in the team. He said that Pandya’s appointment as captain would only be beneficial for the franchise.

“At times, you need fresh thinking. Hardk brings in that fresh thinking. I think the decision will only benefit Mumbai Indians, it will not deter them,” he added.

Meanwhile how Rohit Sharma sees his future with the franchise now will be an interesting observation. While the IPL retentions recently took place, the trade window will be still open after the auction and until a week before the start of the new season next year.

For now, Rohit Sharma is focused on winning a Test series against South Africa in South Africa and will join the national team shortly. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya is nursing an ankle injury that he survived in the World Cup game against Bangladesh and has been out of the national team since then.

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