Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 has started, Hardik Pandya has also captained Mumbai Indians in a match, but still the fans are not ready to accept that he is the captain of MI this season. In fact, ever since Hardik Pandya took over the captaincy of Mumbai Indians, there has been an earthquake among the fans. He is unhappy with the fact that Hardik is captaining Mumbai.
Pandya, who played for MI from 2015 to 2021, was transferred to GT in an all-cash deal and was given the captaincy role. Under his captaincy, Gujarat became IPL champions in 2022. Ahead of IPL 2024, Hardik was traded back to MI via all-cash and was appointed captain, replacing Rohit Sharma. Let us tell you that Rohit had given five IPL titles to MI.
Navjot Singh Sidhu gave a big statement regarding Rohit Sharma
Former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu has given his opinion regarding Hardik and Rohit. Sidhu expressed his opinion while speaking on Star Sports and said, “I have played in an Indian team where five captains played together, Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Ravi Shastri… pick up a brick. And you’ll find a captain both above and below that. There was no problem because he was playing for his country… the motivation was to play for his country. Therefore, playing under Hardik’s captaincy does not make Rohit any younger.”
The former Indian opener further said, “I guarantee that this does not make Rohit Sharma small, he is a big player. This is a franchise that has brought in a new guy who is better and everyone has accepted him, but Rohit is a great player.” Sidhu said in his poetic style that ‘A dwarf is still a dwarf even if he stands on the top of a mountain, a god is still a god even if he stands in the depth of a well.’
Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians’ new batting coach Kieron Pollard defended Pandya’s decision to open the bowling and bat at number seven in his opening match. “You have to plan and decide what you want to do as a team,” he said. Hardik has also bowled with the new ball for Gujarat in the last few years.