Mumbai Indians have removed Rohit Sharma as captain ahead of the IPL 2024 season.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya would be succeeding Rohit, who led MI to five IPL titles in his 10-year stint as skipper. The announcement came less than a month after Hardik returned to MI, following a high-profile trade from Gujarat Titans (GT), whom he led in the past two seasons.
This move raises uncertainties about Rohit's future in the shortest format of the game, and former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar also feels the same.
According to Manjrekar, Suryakumar Yadav is the only reliable batter in the MI line-up for the 2024 season.
“Ishan Kishan, from couple of seasons before MI paid the big bucks… he is in the same kind of form. Tim David is still trying to fill the shoes of Kieron Pollard. On form, one player that you can maybe depend on, the player who you can expect to come good, is Suryakumar Yadav,” said Manjrekar on Hotstar.
“Rohit Sharma, for me, as a batter, is a question mark in T20 cricket. Has shown promise, the way he played in the fifty -over World Cups. But that's a completely different format, when you know you have fifty overs. They bat in that fashion. Bowlers just bowl differently in 50 overs as well,” he added.
Ever since the T20 World Cup 2022, Hardik Pandya has been leading the T20I side. However, the all-rounder is currently recovering from the ankle injury he sustained during the World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh in Pune on October 19.
In Hardik’s absence, Suryakumar Yadav recently led the Indian T20I team in the home series against Australia and the away series versus South Africa.
However, some reports claim that Rohit Sharma remains the first-choice skipper for T20 World Cup 2024, slated to be held in the West Indies and USA in June.