Mumbai Indians coach Mark Boucher cleared the air on the franchise’s decision to replace Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as the captain of the team ahead of IPL 2024. Boucher, who is at the forefront of the decision-making powers in MI, said that it was purely a cricketing decision to make Pandya the captain.
After leading the Gujarat Titans for two years, Hardik made a historic trade back to the Mumbai Indians in November 2023. He was named the MI captain just a few days before the IPL mini auction. The decision was met with a lot of resistance from cricket lovers. Fans bashed the franchise for replacing the Indian captain.
However, Mark Boucher explained the rationale behind the decision. He said Rohit will bat with a more free mind in IPL 2024.
“I think it was purely a cricketing decision. We saw the window period to get Hardik back as a player. For me, it’s a transition phase. A lot of people don’t understand in India. People get quite emotional, but you know you take the emotions away from it. I think it’s just more of a cricketing decision that was made. I do think it is going to bring the best out of Rohit as a person and as a player. Just let him go out and enjoy and score some good runs,” Mark Boucher said on Smash Sports podcast.
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