Watch: Rohit Sharma in disbelief as Hardik Pandya orders him to field at long-on

Rohit Sharma, on Sunday (March 24), started a new journey in the Indian Premier League (IPL) when Mumbai Indians locked horns against Gujarat Titans in the ongoing IPL 2024.

The India captain played an IPL game without being the captain of Mumbai Indians for the first time since 2013. He led the franchise from 2013 to 2023 and did a remarkable job as a captain. Under his captaincy, Mumbai Indians became the first team to win the IPL title three, four as well as five times.

However, Mumbai Indians failed to do well in recent seasons. They last won the title in 2020 before failing to make it to the playoffs in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, the five-time winners managed to qualify for the playoffs but could not go past that stage. After the 2023 season, Mumbai Indians decided to change their captain. They sacked Rohit Sharma and replaced him with Hardik Pandya who did well as a captain for Gujarat Titans in the last two seasons.

Rohit Sharma in disbelief:

It looks like Rohit Sharma will need some time to get accustomed to playing the IPL just as a player and not the captain. In a viral video, the veteran batsman, who is also the captain of the Indian team, looked in total disbelief when Hardik Pandya gave him orders on the field.

The incident took place in the very final over of the Titans’ innings. Pandya was seen asking Rohit Sharma to go to long-on and the former Mumbai Indians captain could not believe it as he double-checked it before running towards the boundary. One of the reasons could be that he hardly fields near the boundary.

Watch:

https://twitter.com/CoverDrive001/status/1771927720135373097?t=HRpBo3dfnX9LVHVKtIyt7w&s=19

https://twitter.com/musafir_tha_yr/status/1771926703201259566?t=sS1mVlq6OHhNHwmVJRxurA&s=19&fbclid=IwAR3V9JM_kvl8DsR-k9-X2ZM1yWpS_YpU2J1dL3k6LMzXkotnDTObpWxtn9g

Talking about the game, the Titans finished their innings on 168 for 6 in the allotted 20 overs after being asked to bat first. Sai Sudharsan top-scored for the home side, scoring 45 off 39 balls. The left-handed batsman was the only Titans player to touch the 40-run mark.

For Mumbai Indians, Jasprit Bumrah starred with the ball, taking 3 wickets for just 14 runs in his four overs. In reply, Mumbai were on 44 for 2 in the fifth over at the time of writing this report.