Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians (MI) sprang a surprise last week by appointing Hardik Pandya as their new captain. The all-rounder would be succeeding Rohit Sharma, 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 unexpected move has created quite a stir in the cricket fraternity. However, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels people shouldn’t get emotional and sentimental about Rohit’s removal as MI captain.

According to Manjrekar, it’s a good move as Hardik Pandya has proven his credentials as a leader.

“One should not be thinking sentimentally or emotionally about Rohit Sharma. I think it’s a good move as Hardik Pandya is a proven leader and has had a great run. So, he is your in-form T20 captain and player,” Manjrekar was quoted as saying to Star Sports.

“Rohit has been around for a long time. So, it makes a lot of cricketing sense to have somebody like Hardik,” he added.

Hardik Pandya moved from GT to MI with the 2022 champions receiving INR 15 crore in their purse for the IPL 2024 auction. It was an all-cash deal, making Hardik the first title-winning captain to be traded in IPL.

“I just hope he [Hardik Pandya] doesn’t feel the pressure of how the transferred happened and Mumbai Indians backing him so much,” Manjrekar stated.

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.