Hardik Pandya recently returned to Mumbai Indians (MI) from the Gujarat Titans (GT) in a lucrative all-cash trade deal. He was announced as the new captain of MI, prompting a mysterious post from Suryakumar Yadav on social media. Yadav tweeted a broken heart emoji, seemingly in response to the management’s decision to remove Rohit Sharma from the captaincy.
Yadav, who was the vice-captain of MI in the previous IPL, had led the team in a few matches when Rohit played as an Impact player. The team officially announced Pandya’s leadership transition on their social media platforms on Friday. It is worth noting that Pandya initially began his IPL journey with MI, who managed to acquire him at a bargain price of Rs 10 lakh in 2015. He made a move to the Titans prior to the IPL 2022 season, where he secured the runners-up position in the 2023 campaign.
Mahela Jayawardene, Global Head of Performance, Mumbai Indians, 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 (Tendulkar) to Harbhajan (Singh) and Ricky (Ponting) 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.”
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