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In a shocking turn of events, Indian captain Rohit Sharma could miss the upcoming 2024 season of the Indian Premier League, if he isn't traded out of the Mumbai Indians. The development surfaced after the five-time IPL champions decided to replace Sharma with Hardik Pandya as the captain after trading for the all-rounder from Gujarat Titans in an all-cash deal.
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Since this announcement, there has been a lot of speculation about how Pandya's return to the Mumbai Indians depended on him being the captain of the side. The Indian Express further revealed that Rohit Sharma was informed about this development before the recently concluded ICC ODI World Cup 2023 in India. The MI management after consultations agreed to Pandya’s condition and then informed Sharma about it during the World Cup.
Sharma had by then left it to the franchise to decide the team’s future. After the World Cup and the IPL retentions for the 2024 season, Mumbai completed the trade for Hardik Pandya. To budget this deal, the five-time champions also traded Australian all-rounder Cameron Green to the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a similar all-cash transaction.
Also Read: Delhi Capitals approached Mumbai Indians to trade for Rohit Sharma - Reports
After these trades, the Mumbai Indians, on December 15, announced Hardik Pandya as their captain for the 2024 season. Since then a report has surfaced about Rohit Sharma being unavailable for the 2024 season if he isn't traded out of Mumbai Indians.
