"Not Sure How Long He's..." - Martin Guptill Reacts To Hardik Pandya Replacing Rohit Sharma As MI Captain

The veteran New Zealand National Cricket Team opening batsman Martin Guptill has reacted to star all-rounder Hardik Pandya replacing Rohit Sharma as the new skipper of the Mumbai Indians (MI).

On Friday, December 15, Mumbai Indians (MI) shocked the cricketing fraternity by appointing Hardik Pandya as the new captain of the team ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

The move was on the cards after the star all-rounder was traded in from Gujarat Titans (GT) for INR 15 crore, but many expected him to take over the captaincy responsibility after a few years when Rohit relinquished captaincy.

Meanwhile, replacing a skipper of Rohit’s caliber will not be an easy job for Hardik despite showing excellent leadership skills in his first couple of seasons as captain of Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Rohit was appointed as the captain of the Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2013 when they hadn’t won any IPL trophy. He changed the fortunes of the franchise with his extraordinary leadership qualities and guided them to 5 IPL titles. He led the team to victory in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.

Hardik is definitely the one – Martin Guptill

Martin Guptill spoke to TOI on the sidelines of the recently concluded Legends League Cricket (LLC) and talked about the significant change in the Mumbai Indians (MI) leadership.

The Kiwi veteran said that Rohit Sharma has had a fantastic career, but was unsure of how long the legendary Indian cricketer would continue. He added that Hardik is the right choice to lead the franchise.

“I guess the good thing about Hardik is he’s got youth on his side. Rohit and I are the same age and Rohit’s career, I’m not sure how long he’s going to go. He’s had a fantastic career to date and if they are looking to the future then, Hardik is definitely the one.”

“Hardik was from Mumbai from day one of his career and then has obviously played for Gujarat for the last couple of years. But he’s got a lot of support and stuff in Mumbai. So, he could definitely be a leader for them,” the New Zealand opening batter added.