Mumbai Indians’ new captain, Hardik Pandya, finally met Rohit Sharma after months. There were reports of unrest brewing in the MI camp due to the controversial removal of Rohit Sharma from captaincy ahead of IPL 2024.
Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and many other players have expressed their disappointment at the sacking of the most successful MI skipper.
During the training session on Wednesday, March 20, the players were at Wankhede Stadium for the practice session. Hardik saw Rohit standing among the group of players. He went to Sharma and hugged him before exchanging a few words.
The official Twitter handle of the franchise uploaded the video, which has gone viral.
Rohit led Mumbai to give IPL titles, the joint most along with MS Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings. Pandya, who left the franchise after not being retained, joined Gujarat Titans for two seasons. He was their captain and lifted the trophy in the first season itself in 2022.
The team reached the final in the next season but lost to CSK at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Hardik and Mumbai started negotiations during the ICC World Cup 2023, and the deal was finalized after the event ended in India.
The all-rounder agreed to return to his previous franchise but with a captain’s armband. Despite desperate attempts by the franchise to show all is well among the players, the cracks are visible.
Hardik and head coach Mark Boucher refused to answer any questions on Rohit Sharma and the change in captaincy during their press conference. Rohit’s wife is miffed with the decision-makers and openly slammed Boucher for his statement on Rohit’s removal.
Meanwhile, MI will take on GT in their first match on March 24.