Five time IPL champions Mumbai Indians surprised everyone last year by appointing Hardik Pandya as their new captain replacing Rohit Sharma at the helm. The decision became a huge talking point on social media with netizens slamming MI management for removing Sharma as the skipper after 10 successful years. Now batting legend Sunil Gavaskar believes the changing of guard will only benefit the franchise next season. According to Gavaskar, the change in leadership was imminent at the MI camp with Rohit on the wrong side of 30s.
"Look they have always thought about the future of the franchise. Rohit Sharma is already 36 years old and also faces immense pressure being the captain of India for all three formats. They have tried to reduce some of that burden and give that responsibility on the young shoulders of Hardik Pandya," Gavaskar told Star Sports."
Handing Hardik the captaincy is only going to benefit the Mumbai Indians. They have now given the freedom to Rohit to go and express himself freely at the top of the order. Hardik can then come at No.3 or No.5 and help them post totals of 200-plus consistently," Gavaskar added.Talking about Rohit Sharma, he took over as MI captain from Ricky Ponting midway through IPL 2013. Overall, he led MI in 163 matches in which they emerged victorious on 91 occasions and lost 68 games while four ended in ties.All-rounder Pandya returned to Mumbai Indians after guiding Gujarat Titans to back-to-back IPL finals. Local hero Pandya propelled GT to IPL glory in their debut season. In Pandya's final season as captain of the Gujarat-based franchise, 2022 winners GT contested the final of the IPL against MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
