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Rohit Sharma is one of the few cricketers to have emotionally driven fans and it was on full display on December 15. Hardik Pandya replaced Sharma as the captain of their Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians on Friday. The announcement clearly didn’t go well with Sharma’s fans and they protested throughout the country by burning t-shirts, caps, and flags of the Mumbai-based franchise.
Sharma led Mumbai to five IPL trophy victories within a span of seven years and is now the joint-most successful captain as Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Earlier during the IPL 2024 retention and trading window, Pandya was traded from Gujarat Titans. The Indian all-rounder led the Gujarat-based franchise to one IPL trophy and one final finish. The Ambani Group-owned franchise released a statement on Friday evening announcing the new captain of the team.
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However, some fans didn't take the new change in the right spirit, and they protested against the news. While some fans burnt the franchise’s caps, others were seen burning the jerseys. Not only this, but the franchise reportedly lost around 1.5 Lakh followers on Instagram and 400K followers on Twitter after the announcement.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians’ Global Head of Performance, Mahela Jayawardene had commented on Pandya’s appointment as the captain. He said, “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.”
Notably, the 36-year-old cricketer recently led the Indian cricket team to the ODI World Cup 2023 final.
