Mumbai Indians (MI) have replaced veteran batsman Rohit Sharma with star all-rounder Hardik Pandya as the captain for the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
There was a lot of hue and cry among the fans about the step taken by MI. With less than 10 days to go for the start of the marquee event, fans and experts are yet to get over it.
Meanwhile, former South African cricketer AB de Villiers, who has been part of the IPL, termed it as a ‘big controversy’. Hailing MI as an ‘extremely successful’ team, De Villiers said they seemed to have moved on from Rohit.
“Incredibly successful team of the IPL. They have won five titles. Big controversy over the last few months was that Hardik Pandya coming in as captain in place of Rohit Sharma. They seem to be happy though. They seemed to have moved on. It is great to have Hardik in blue at his home team Mumbai Indians. They will be starting against Gujarat Titans, how ironic is that,” said the former Mr 360 degree batsman on his official YouTube channel.
Notably, MI will lock horns with Gujarat Titans in their campaign opener of IPL 2024 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on March 24.