One of the most successful captains of IPL, Rohit Sharma might be representing Mumbai Indians for one final time in the upcoming edition. The five-time IPL champions announced Hardik Pandya as their captain for the upcoming 2024 IPL.
The IPL mega auction is scheduled in 2025 and it now seems certain that this will be Rohit Sharma final IPL season for Mumbai Indians. As per IPL governing council rules, each franchise is entitled to retain four players including three Indian players or two overseas players. The Mumbai-based franchise is likely to retain Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav with one slot left for the overseas player.
Earlier, there were some talks about Rohit Sharma leaving Mumbai Indians before IPL 2024 after a controversial podcast of MI head coach Mark Boucher went viral on the internet. “I think it was purely a cricketing decision. 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,” Boucher had said. Rohit Sharma’s wife Ritika Sajdeh reacted to Boucher’s comment as she wrote back: “So many things wrong with this.” Later on, the post was deleted from the platform.
The last three IPL seasons haven’t gone MI’s way as Hardik wasn’t fully fit in 2021, Jasprit Bumrah dealt with a back injury and also a big investment in Jofra Archer never really paid off. All these things did affect MI’s performance and also Rohit’s stats as MI skipper.
Currently, the former MI skipper is being paid INR 16 crore for his services. The IPL veteran is surely expected to get more if he makes himself available for the mega auction next year.
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