Former India batter Manoj Tiwary has said that Mumbai's captaincy could be handed back to Rohit Sharma. The five-time Indian Premier League champions have succumbed to three back-to-back losses to begin their 2024 season under the leadership of all-rounder Hardik Pandya following his historic trade move from Gujarat. Pandya was traded from Gujarat after a successful stint as their skipper, leading them to the IPL title in 2022 and taking them all the way to the final in 2023. He replaced long-time captain Rohit at the helm in Mumbai but is yet to register his first win as their captain.
Speaking to Cricbuzz after Mumbai’s loss against Rajasthan, Tiwary said Rohit could be made Mumbai’s captain once again following a poor start in the 2024 season. Rajasthan restricted Mumbai to 125 for 9 in the first innings before chasing the under-par target down with 6 wickets and 27 balls remaining. Under Pandya’s leadership, Mumbai has suffered defeats against Gujarat and Hyderabad, losing by 6 runs and 31 runs respectively.
“Mumbai's captaincy could be handed back to Rohit Sharma. What I understand is that the owners of Mumbai Indians don't hesitate in making decisions. They made the call of taking the captaincy from Rohit and giving it to Hardik Pandya despite Rohit winning five IPL titles for them,” said Tiwary.
“Changing the captain is a very big call. They have not picked up a single point this season. And the captaincy is also all over the place, it's not just bad luck and the captaincy has been very good, that's not the case. The captaincy has not been great,” Tiwary added.
Pandya has endured a tough start to his captaincy stint with MI, losing the first three matches of IPL 2024 while being constantly booed by crowds wherever he goes. Pandya faced the crowd’s wrath in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and surprisingly, at Mumbai’s home ground at the Wankhede as well.
In fact, former skipper Rohit had to urge the home crowd to stop booing Pandya during MI’s defeat against Rajasthan. The Mumbai-based franchise will be looking to bounce back to winning ways when they take on Delhi Capitals on Sunday, April 7.
