"Making Hardik captain may or may not benefit the team," says Sunil Gavaskar
Dec 19, 2023
New Delhi [India], December 19 : Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 auction on Tuesday in Dubai, former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that making Hardik Pandya the captain of the Mumbai Indian (MI) may or may not benefit the franchise.
While speaking at Star Sports, Gavaskar said that the 30-year-old has already delivered results while leading the Gujarat Titans (GT). He added that taking a "fresh thinking" is needed.
"Hardik is a young and fresh captain who has delivered the results. He led the Gujarat Titans to two IPL finals and achieved a title once. So pretty sure they made him captain keeping all this in mind. Sometimes you need fresh thinking, and Hardik can bring that. Making Hardik captain may or may not benefit the team, but it sure won't hurt them," Gavaskar said.
He further added that the Mumbai-based franchise decided for their benefit and it should not be discussed what is right or wrong.
The former cricketer pointed out Mi's performance last year and said that even though they have qualified for the IPL 2023 playoffs, the "josh" was missing in Rohit Sharma. He added that Rohit has scored crucial runs for the franchise.
"We should not discuss what is right or wrong. The decision taken by Mumbai Indians is for the benefit of their team. In the last two years, Rohit's contributions with the bat were scarce. He used to score heavily, and two seasons ago if I'm not wrong, MI finished last. Last year, they qualified for the Playoffs but the josh that we are used to seeing in him, has been missing. Perhaps he is tired having played non-stop cricket, or captaining India," he added.
Hardik made a return to the five-time champions in a trade deal between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. While many expected Hardik to play under Rohit's captaincy, MI's decision to hand the captaincy to the 30-year-old all-rounder earlier this week caught many by surprise.
