Mumbai Indians (MI) endured a dismal IPL 2024 campaign, finishing the league stage at the bottom of the points table with 4 wins from 14 matches.
On Friday (May 17), the five-time champions signed off the season with an 18-run defeat against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Wankhede Stadium.
After their dismal campaign came to an end, MI head coach Mark Boucher opened up on the future of former skipper Rohit Sharma with the team, saying that the opener is a master of his own destiny.
"For me, he is a master of his own destiny. It's a big auction next season who knows what's going to happen?" Boucher stated in the post-match press conference.
Reflecting on Rohit’s performance, Boucher said it was a season of two halves for the opener as he had a strong start to the season before experiencing a slump.
"I had a discussion with Rohit Sharma last night. We reviewed the season this year. After that, I asked him what's next? and Rohit said 'the World Cup'", Boucher said.
"It's almost a season of two halves for him. He started the season well and hit the ball sweetly in the nets. He got a superb 100 against CSK as well. So we honestly thought he was on a great path for us to go out there and get some good runs," he added.
Rohit finished the season with 417 runs from 14 matches at an average of 32.08 and a strike rate of 150, including one hundred and a half-century.
"Unfortunately, it's just the nature of T20 as well. He went out there trying to be aggressive, the new way of playing as an opening batter. He got a few low scores, which unfortunately didn't help us in that particular situation either. But tonight, he finished off with a fantastic knock as well. So yeah, it is a season of two halves for him," Boucher remarked.
Ahead of the IPL 2024 season, Hardik Pandya completed a high-profile trade from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians and replaced Rohit Sharma as skipper.
However, the all-rounder failed to create an impact as captain and his below-par performance with bat and ball also came under the scanner.
"Even Hardik would've been disappointed with his performance. From a captain's perspective, he had some excellent games," Boucher said.
He added, "There's a lot of stuff going around him that clouds his thoughts now and again, which is also challenging for him as a leader. He certainly had a lot of support within our dressing room, and guys are trying to help him out, but it is tricky to go through as a player. It is what it is, and it will undoubtedly be a learning curve for him with his leadership growth. While times are tough now, some things will pass, and he'll be a tougher leader. So, some fantastic things are coming for Hardik Pandya as a leader."
Boucher chose to remain silent on Pandya's captaincy and future but emphasized that important decisions should always be made after a level-headed assessment.
"With regards to my stuff, I'm not too sure where I'm going, to be honest. As I said, it's early days at the moment. A lot of people are emotional. There's probably going to be discussions about all of us. I don't think there's only one person. We're in a high-performance zone, and when you underperform, you need to get looked at," the MI head coach said.
"So, the only thing I can do as a coach is give my best, precisely what I've done. I've got no regrets about what I've done here. Could I have done things better? We'll sit down and evaluate that, as we do with all the players as well," he stated.
Hardik Pandya had a disappointing campaign with both bat and ball, scoring just 216 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 143.05 without a half-century. While he managed to claim 11 wickets, it came an average of 35.18 and an economy rate of 10.75.
