R Ashwin, a former Indian cricketer, has revealed his pick for the next captain of the five-time IPL champions, the Mumbai Indians, ahead of the IPL 2027 season. After a turbulent IPL 2026 season in which they finished ninth, it is widely anticipated that MI will not retain Hardik Pandya as captain.

After the franchise announced Kieron Pollard as the team's head coach for 2027, Ashwin has also shared his choice for the MI captaincy role, backing Rohit Sharma to be reappointed as skipper. Ashwin stated that the Mumbai Indians have a lot of issues to fix and that Rohit has the necessary experience to be able to do so.

"This team needs a leader who has the respect of the dressing room. This is the last year before the mega auction. They also need to fix a lot of things. Who has the experience to fix these things in this short time? It is Rohit. I think it is an obvious choice, at least for this year. He is a frontrunner for me. He also has a good bond with Pollard," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

The former India spinner, who spent most of his IPL career with Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Punjab Kings (PBKS), and Rajasthan Royals (RR), dismissed any chance of Suryakumar Yadav or Jasprit Bumrah taking over as MI's captain.

He also made a strong case that Hardik is unlikely to stay on as captain, given the uncertainty surrounding his future at the franchise.

"I think the chances of Hardik Pandya staying there are low, and therefore the chances of him being captain are even lower. I'd rule out... I don't think Jasprit Bumrah will be the captain, as he has physical issues. Suryakumar Yadav is no longer in the Indian team; he's not in Mumbai's Ranji team. I don't see him captaining the Mumbai side,” Ashwin said.

Tilak Varma’s name is floating around as an option for the MI captaincy role, given that he recently became the vice-captain of the Indian T20I team.