Mumbai Indians went through weeks of turmoil after Hardik Pandya was named the captain replacing fan-favourite Rohit Sharma. Now, captain Pandya has asked for support from the Mumbai Indians loyalists ahead of his MI captaincy debut in IPL 2024.
Hardik Pandya and Mumbai Indians faced fans’ wrath after the franchise removed Rohit Sharma from captaincy. Rohit won five titles with MI and remains the most successful captain of IPL along with MS Dhoni.
“Just keep supporting. Dher sara pyaar do, puri koshish karenge aap sabko entertain kare aur ek acha brand of cricket khelenge (Shower us with love; we’ll try our best to entertain all of you and play a good brand of cricket). It’ll be exciting,” Hardik Pandya said on a show on The UK07 Rider YouTube channel.
Rohit Sharma to Hardik Pandya transition
After spending two years with Gujarat Titans, Hardik Pandya returned “home” to MI. In these two years, as Mumbai Indians struggled, Gujarat Titans won a title on debut and finished runners-up last season under Hardik’s leadership.
But Mumbai fans did not take Rohit’s sacking lightly. MI faced backlash on social media with many fans unfollowing their social media accounts.
Now, fit again, Hardik Pandya will have to earn back Mumbai Indians fans’ support. He will also have to lead Rohit Sharma, for at least a season. And then also play under him in T20 World Cup in the national team.
Hardik Pandya’s first test will be against his old team Gujarat Titans whom he led for two seasons. MI will travel to Ahmedabad to take on GT on March 24.
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