IPL 2024: Decision to replace Rohit Sharma as MI skipper should not trigger sentiments, says Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar said that people shouldn’t get emotional and sentimental after Rohit Sharma was replaced as the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) skipper ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

On Friday, December 15, Hardik Pandya replaced the 36-year-old Rohit as the MI skipper, after which the latter’s fans lashed out on social media platforms.

Manjrekar said that making Hardik, who has also led India in ODIs and T20Is, as the captain makes ‘cricketing sense’.

“One should not be thinking sentimentally or emotionally about Rohit Sharma. I think it’s a good move as Hardik Pandya is a proven leader and has had a great run. So, he is your in-form T20 captain and player,” Manjrekar was quoted as saying to Star Sports after India’s eight-wicket win against South Africa in the first ODI at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.

“Rohit has been around for a long time. So, it makes a lot of cricketing sense to have somebody like Hardik,” he stated.

Before the IPL 2024 retentions, Hardik made a move from the Gujarat Titans to MI, a franchise for which he made his debut in the tournament back in 2015.

“I just hope he doesn’t feel the pressure of how the transferred happened and Mumbai Indians backing him so much,” Manjrekar added.

After the 2021 IPL, Hardik moved to the Titans and led them to glory in their very first season. In 2023, Hardik performed brilliantly as well after GT finished as the runners-up following their defeat to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

As far as Rohit is concerned, he took over as the MI skipper from Ricky Ponting midway through the 2013 IPL. Since then, he captained the Mumbai-based franchise to five titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. Rohit is also fourth in the list of leading run-scorers in the IPL after Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner.