It seems that the appointment of Hardik Pandya as the new Mumbai Indians captain, replacing Rohit Sharma, isn’t welcomed by senior MI batsman Suryakumar Yadav.
Less than 24 hours after Hardik Pandya was announced as the new Mumbai Indians skipper on Friday, Suryakumar Yadav took to his Instagram to post a heartbreak emoji on his Instagram story.
This led to the fans wondering whether Suryakumar, who has been with MI since 2018 and was retained in 2022 ahead of Hardik Pandya, is unhappy with Pandya replacing Rohit Sharma as the franchise’s new captain. Fans also theorized whether Suryakumar was expecting himself to be the next player to replace Rohit as the captain because he was the vice-captain of MI in IPL 2023 and captained the side in one game when Rohit was unavailable.
Check out Suryakumar Yadav’s Insta story after Hardik Pandya was named the new MI captain
Mahela Jayawardene, who is the Global Head of Performance of the Mumbai Indians, said that appointing Hardik as their new skipper, while Rohit Sharma still being an active player, was a decision they made with the future in mind.
Pandya has proven himself as a brilliant captain by leading the Gujarat Titans to two consecutive IPL finals, winning one and losing one.
Jayawardene said: “It is part of legacy building and staying true to the MI philosophy of being future-ready. Mumbai Indians have always been blessed with exceptional leadership right from Sachin to Harbhajan and Ricky to Rohit, who while contributing to the immediate success have always had an eye on strengthening the team for the future. It is in keeping with this philosophy that Hardik Pandya will assume captaincy of Mumbai Indians for the IPL 2024 season.”
“We welcome Hardik Pandya as the new captain of MI and wish him all the very best.”
The IPL 2024 auction is slated for December 19.
