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Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai Indians' former skipper, had likely backed youngster Tilak Varma to be appointed as the captain of the MI side, through the mid-season of the IPL 2026 competition.
Hardik Pandya has led the Mumbai Indians since his return in 2024, and since then, the franchise has finished on the lower end of the points table twice in the last three seasons. Hardik has also struggled to maintain his high standards as a batter or a bowler in the IPL.
Mumbai Indians finished ninth on a ten-team points table and will be eager to turn their fortunes when they return next season. Though young, Tilak could be backed for captaincy, as young captains have had promising success in the IPL.
Rohit Sharma suggested Tilak Varma as the MI captain in 2026
As per recent reports, Rohit Sharma, the legendary Mumbai Indians' former skipper, has been provided with the responsibility to suggest new players who could take over as the captain of the franchise from Hardik Pandya.
With the franchise still failing to win matches in recent times, the Mumbai Indians are keenly planning a switch in captaincy ahead of the upcoming season of the IPL. However, Rohit suggested Tilak Varma as the franchise's next captain during the middle of the season itself, as reported by CricBlogger.
Tilak Varma is, anyway, likely to take over as the captain of the Mumbai Indians squad from the upcoming season of the IPL, as Hardik Pandya has been terribly unsuccessful for the franchise, and Rohit Sharma is too old to return as the captain of the side.
Reasons behind Rohit and Hardik's strained relationship in the IPL
The reports from CricBlogger have claimed that the relationship between Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya never fully recovered after Hardik left the Mumbai Indians to be a part of the Gujarat Titans since the 2021 edition of the IPL.
Rohit Sharma was the captain of the side, and he had informed the management that Hardik would not be bowling any further due to his injury concerns, and hence, it was useless to retain him solely as the captain of the side.
After that, the MI management saw Hardik Pandya bowling for the Gujarat Titans and also leading them by a good example. The clash of interest then continued when the two players returned to represent the same franchise.
Hardik returned to MI on clear terms of Rohit's eviction from captaincy
Discussions over bringing Hardik back into the side happened when the Gujarat Titans, under his leadership, qualified for the second consecutive final in their second season in IPL 2023.
However, reports have claimed that Hardik agreed to return to the Mumbai Indians squad as he was assured by the management that Rohit would be removed from captaincy.
However, Rohit at that time did not agree to relinquish captaincy, especially with the knowledge that he would be leading Hardik as the captain in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. He was then unwilling to hand over captaincy to the Indian all-rounder.
“The fact that Rohit is suggesting Tilak’s name itself shows the extent of the toxicity between them,” the CricBlogger source added.
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