Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar stated that Hardik Pandya leading the Mumbai Indians (MI) may or may not help the team ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction on Tuesday in Dubai.
Gavaskar stated that the 30-year-old has already produced outcomes while managing the Gujarat Titans (GT) during his speech at Star Sports. He went on to say that adopting “fresh thinking” is necessary.
“Hardik is a young and fresh captain who has delivered the results. He led the Gujarat Titans to two IPL finals and achieved a title once. So pretty sure they made him captain keeping all this in mind. Sometimes you need fresh thinking, and Hardik can bring that. Making Hardik captain may or may not benefit the team, but it sure won’t hurt them,” Gavaskar said.
He went on to say that the Mumbai-based team made their decisions for their own advantage and that morality shouldn’t be debated.
The veteran cricket player cited Mi’s performance from the previous season and claimed that although they made it to the IPL 2023 playoffs, Rohit Sharma lacked “josh”. He continued by saying that Rohit had made significant runs for the team.
“We should not discuss what is right or wrong. The decision taken by Mumbai Indians is for the benefit of their team. In the last two years, Rohit’s contributions with the bat were scarce. He used to score heavily, and two seasons ago if I’m not wrong, MI finished last. Last year, they qualified for the Playoffs but the josh that we are used to seeing in him, has been missing. Perhaps he is tired having played non-stop cricket, or captaining India,” he added.
In a transfer agreement between the Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians prior to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Hardik rejoined the five-time winners. Although many anticipated that Hardik would lead the team under Rohit, many were taken aback when MI chose to give the 30-year-old all-rounder leadership earlier this week.