Several fans and many experts across the globe have expressed their dissatisfaction over Mumbai Indians’ decision of appointing Hardik Pandya as the captain of the team replacing most successful Rohit Sharma.
Following the decision, MI lost a massive amount of followers on social media platforms.
Reacting over the development, former South Africa great and Mr 360 degree batsman AB de Villiers said that some people ‘took it a bit personally’.
“I think there are a lot of people happy about it, a lot of people upset about it. I read a post that said Mumbai Indians’ social platform lost like 1 million followers. I am not sure how accurate that is but obviously some people took it a bit personally with Rohit having to move on and make place for Hardik,” said De Villiers on his official YouTube channel.
Moreover, the legendary batsman has backed MI’s decision to appoint Hardik as the skipper of the team in place of veteran Rohit Sharma.
“I don’t think it is a bad move for Mumbai Indians. It’s something new. Rohit has had fantastic success over the years, winning a lot of trophies. Maybe being the captain for India puts a lot of pressure on him as well. Now it’s maybe just time for him to settle a bit and play and enjoy the game and give the pressure to someone else,” said De Villiers.
“That could be the reason. I don’t think it could go any deeper than that. I don’t think Hardik would have come in with a dominating mentality saying like, ‘I am not playing if I am not captain.’ I don’t think it went along these lines. I really do think Rohit made a strategic decision for himself, to get himself a bit rested and be fresher for his batting skills and make sure that he scores runs,” he added.