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‘Rohit Faces Immense Pressure’: Sunil Gavaskar Justifies Hardik Pandya Replacing Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians Captain
Here’s what Sunil Gavaskar has to say about the change in captaincy of Mumbai Indians
Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar recently shared his views on the transfer of Mumbai Indian captaincy from Rohit Sharma to Hardik Pandya. Surprisingly, Gavaskar made a statement to justify the actions of the franchise as he believes that Rohit is already ageing and this decision will only help lift the pressure off his shoulders.
"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 said while speaking to Star Sports.
He added, “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.”
The cricket world shook as Mumbai Indians, the joint record holders of winning most IPL championships, announced that they were letting go of Rohit Sharma as their captain and the baton of leadership was now going to be in the hands of Hardik Pandya. 
Hardik Pandya, who was a part of Mumbai Indians for 6 seasons, was acquired by Gujarat Titans in 2022. He helped the win team their debut IPL Championship in the first year of their inception. In 2023 as well, he led them to the final, where they lost to MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings in a thriller of a clash.
Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, took over Mumbai Indians’ captaincy in 2013 from former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting. He led Mumbai to their first IPL cup in the same year and helped them win four more titles in the coming years, thus making them the the team with most IPL trophies, the record they share with Chennai Super Kings.
The decision to change the captain invited opposition and resentment from fans as they associated with Rohit so much and hence, didn’t like the idea of their team playing under the leadership of someone else.
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