Mumbai Indians orchestrated remarkable moves in the Indian Premier League (IPL) trading window, making waves by reacquiring Hardik Pandya, who previously led Gujarat Titans to victory as captain, after being released by Mumbai ahead of the 2022 auction. Additionally, they surprised many by stripping Rohit Sharma, the architect of their five IPL title wins, of the captaincy.
Mark Boucher, the head coach of MI, opened up on the strategy of replacing Rohit with Hardik.
“I think it was more of a cricketing decision. We saw the window period to get Hardik back as a player. I think it’s just more of a cricketing decision that was made and I do think it is going to bring the best out of Rohit as a person as a player. Just let him go out and enjoy and score some good runs,” Mark Boucher says on Smash Sports podcast.
Boucher also revealed that the franchise thought captaincy was taking a toll on Rohit and they wanted him to step up as a player without having to worry about the responsibilities of a captain.
“One thing I did pick up with Ro (Rohit) is that he is a fantastic guy. It is that he walks into a place and there’s just cameras in it and he’s so busy and he hasn’t had probably the best couple of seasons of late with the bat but he’s done well as a captain,” he says.
“We thought that maybe this is the opportunity for him to step in for his last year or so. We believe he has got some great value to add and just go out there and actually enjoy it without the hype of being a captain. When he steps into the IPL maybe just taking that extra bit of pressure off him as a captain and maybe we get the best out of Rohit Sharma.
“We want to see him playing with a smile on his face, spending a bit of time with his beautiful family,” he added.
However, Ritika Sajdeh, the wife of Rohit Sharma, appears to differ with Boucher's viewpoint. She expressed her disagreement by commenting, "There are so many issues with this," under the video.
Boucher also heaped praise on Pandya's captaincy and said, "He is a Mumbai Indians boy. He went to other franchise, won the title in first year, ended up runner-up in his second year. So there’s obviously some very good leadership skills as well."
Hardik Pandya journey with Mumbai Indians started in 2015, following which he earned an India call-up in 2016. The all-rounder won four titles as part of the Mumbai Indians' franchise (2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020) but moved to Gujarat Titans in 2021 after being released by Mumbai.
Two new teams were added to the league that year and Pandya was named captain of Gujarat Titans, who he led to the title in their debut season. The team finished runner-up behind Chennai Super Kings in 2023.
During the IPL 2023 retentions window, Pandya returned to Mumbai Indians, following a deal of an undisclosed amount between Gujarat and Mumbai.
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