"Playing Under Hardik Pandya, I Don't Think..." - Rohit Sharma's Childhood Coach Reacts After MI Name New Captain

The childhood coach of India National Cricket Team captain Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Lad, has reacted to the appointment of star all-rounder Hardik Pandya as the new captain of Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Rohit Sharma’s remarkable captaincy era in the Indian Premier League (IPL) ended on Friday, December 15, when Mumbai Indians (MI) announced the appointment of Hardik Pandya as the new skipper of the team going forward.

“Mumbai Indians today announced a significant leadership transition for the upcoming 2024 season. Renowned all-rounder Hardik Pandya is set to take the helm as the captain of the Mumbai Indians, succeeding its longest-serving, one of the most successful and loved captains the illustrious Rohit Sharma,” MI said in an official media release.

Hardik Pandya began his Indian Premier League (IPL) career with Mumbai Indians (MI) but was released by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction. He went on to join the Gujarat Titans (GT) and led the team extremely well. He won the trophy as skipper in his first season and then led the team to the final in 2023.

He was traded in by Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of the IPL 2024 auction and the franchise had identified Hardik as Rohit’s successor and wanted to ensure a smooth transition as in the past when the captaincy baton had passed from Sachin Tendulkar to Harbhajan Singh and then Ricky Ponting to Rohit Sharma.

“I don’t think Rohit Sharma will have any problem” – Dinesh Lad

In a chat with MyKhel, Dinesh Lad said that Rohit Sharma will have no problem playing under the leadership of Hardik and it won’t impact his batting performance either.

“I don’t think he will have any problem. He is a cricket player and he doesn’t think about captaincy. He wanted to play cricket. So playing under Hardik, I don’t think it is going to cause any issue for him,” Lad said to MyKhel.

Rohit Sharma after being appointed as the skipper of Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013, led the team to 5 IPL titles – in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. Overall, he led the franchise in 163 games in the IPL and the Champions League T20, winning 91 games and losing 68 games.