Mumbai Indians (MI) received a huge backlash from their loyal fanbase as soon as they announced that Hardik Pandya would be their new captain for IPL 2024. Pandya was traded in from Gujarat Titans in an all-cash deal ahead of the IPL 2024 auction.
A few days after the trade, MI announced Hardik as the new captain, ending Rohit Sharma’s decade-long reign as the skipper. The fans were extremely upset at this decision because it was Rohit who won the franchise its first IPL title in 2013 and then added 4 more in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020.
However, under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, MI failed to qualify for the playoffs twice in the last three IPL seasons and even finished in 10th spot in IPL 2022. This was seen as a reason for Hardik Pandya replacing Rohit as captain.
Hardik had said that he hadn’t got time to talk to Rohit Sharma during a press conference and the two cricketers were yet to come face to face.
The meeting happened for the first time recently and MI shared a video of the moment Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma met.
The video showed Hardik Pandya hugging former captain Rohit Sharma during the team's training session. Hardik could be spotted reaching out to Rohit and hugging him. The short clip later shows both the players having some fun moments together.
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