Rohit Sharma or Hardik Pandya - who should captain Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024?

After all the confusion and drama, it has finally been confirmed that seasoned all-rounder Hardik Pandya will play for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season. After Gujarat Titans (GT) named Pandya in their retained players list on Sunday, November 26, reports emerged that his deal with MI had not come through.

Within a couple of hours of the retention list of all 10 IPL franchises being announced, though, more reports started doing the rounds that Pandya has indeed been traded to MI, his original IPL franchise, while Mumbai traded all-rounder Cameron Green to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to free up some funds for the IPL 2024 auction.

Pandya had a highly successful stint as Gujarat Titans' skipper. In fact, he led the franchise to the title in their maiden IPL season in 2022. In 2023 as well, Gujarat reached the final, where they went down to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Ahmedabad.

With Pandya returning to the MI fold, the big question thus arises - should he replace Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians skipper?

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Why Hardik Pandya taking over as Mumbai Indians captain appears inevitable

Hardik Pandya led Gujarat Titans to victory in IPL 2022. (Pic: Getty Images)

Rohit has done a great job for Mumbai Indians as a leader in the IPL over the years. Along with MS Dhoni, he is the most successful captain in the history of the tournament, having lifted the trophy five times.

Just like Dhoni with CSK, Rohit is synonymous with MI’s legacy. As such, it would be a massive decision to replace Rohit as Mumbai Indians skipper.

At the same time, the move is necessary keeping the long-term perspective in mind. Rohit is now 36 and might not play in the T20 league for more than a couple of seasons.

This is the right phase for Mumbai to go for a change in leadership. And Pandya fits the role perfectly. He has proved his captaincy skills for Gujarat Titans in the IPL over two seasons and has also impressed as India's leader in the few T20I matches that he has led.

In fact, if one goes by cricketing logic, Mumbai Indians’ decision to get Pandya back in their mix appears as a probable move to pick their next captain. The franchise shelling out a whopping sum for Pandya (his salary with GT was ₹15 crore) just to get back his all-round skills doesn’t make a lot of sense.

The 30-year-old’s return to MI must have to do more with the leadership aspect. The permutations and combinations point in the same direction.

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Rohit can still play a key role for MI

Under Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians have won the IPL five times. (Pic: Getty Images)

Even if Pandya is named Mumbai Indians’ captain for the upcoming IPL season, Rohit can still have a huge role to play in the franchise. With his proven leadership skills, he can be the on-field mentor to Pandya, who is still very much learning the tricks of the trade. Taking guidance from Rohit will only benefit the all-rounder and, in turn, Mumbai Indians in the long run.

As for Rohit the batter, he can play the same role he performed for admirably for India during the 2023 World Cup - coming out and getting the team off to some blazing starts. Somehow, the Hitman has not lived up to his potential as a batter in the Indian Premier League. His record in the T20 league pales in comparison to someone like Virat Kohli.

In 243 matches in the IPL, Rohit has notched up 6211 runs at an average of 29.58 and a strike rate of 130.05, with one hundred and 42 fifties. The numbers are decent but do not do justice to potential. Perhaps, Rohit immersed himself so much in MI’s leadership that it affected his batting.

If Pandya takes over the reins of the team, Rohit will then have the liberty to focus totally on his batting. He can come in and go berserk from the word go, just like he did for Team India in the recently concluded ODI World Cup. Such a scenario appears the perfect win-win situation from all angles.