Former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is all set to make his return to the commentary box this IPL season, has commented on Hardik Pandya replacing Rohit Sharma as the captain of Mumbai Indians. While speaking to India Today recently, Sidhu emphasized on the fact that change is the only constant and that Rohit will enjoy his time off from captaincy.
Sidhu is of the view that Rohit Sharma will not mind getting removed as the MI captain in IPL 2024, that too, to a player like Hardik Pandya whose career went off only because of his help. In 2015, it was Rohit who gave Pandya the first major breakthrough of his cricketing career by giving him game time for the Mumbai Indians before the all-rounder went on to become an Indian national player.
Sidhu claims that Hardik Pandya will need Rohit Sharma’s help
While elaborating on this context further, Navjot Singh Sidhu claimed that Rohit Sharma will be relieved after these many years of captaincy for the Mumbai Indians. In his evergreen poetic way, Sidhu claimed that captaincy or leadership in an overall sense is like a bed full of thorns where some come out on top whereas others fail to capitalize.
Sidhu also heaped praise on Rohit Sharma for leading the Indian team as well as Mumbai Indians, extraordinarily throughout these years and said that the 36-year-old will enjoy himself in this IPL. And that might also be an indication and a stamp of approval that we are going to see our beloved “Hitman” in beast mode.
The last two seasons have been quite disappointing for Rohit Sharma according to the standards he has set for himself. He is yet to touch the 400-run mark since the 2019 season when he scored 405 runs in Mumbai’s 4th IPL winning season. Since that season, Rohit has scored 332 (2020), 381 (2021), 268 (2022) and 332 (2023).
Another thing that Sidhu said was that even if Rohit is not the captain anymore, he will still have a say and Hardik Pandya will go to him for assistance.
“One thing is certain. If you are not a captain, it releases so much pressure from the back of your mind. Look, any captaincy, any leadership role is a bed of thorns, whether you accept it or not. Some have enjoyed it, some have taken it as a burden,” Navjot Singh Sidhu told India Today.
“Rohit Sharma is a successful and iconic Indian captain. To not be captain in the IPL and pass on the baton to someone and enjoy cricket, I am sure that Hardik Pandya would run to him, time and again, and consult. A conversation with a wise man is worth months of education,” Sidhu concluded.
“This is not about Rohit Sharma going down a few notches. This is about old order changes, yielding place to new. It has happened always, right? Whether it was Ian Chappel, Greg Chappel, Sunil Gavaskar or Tendulkar, a time comes when everybody has to go.”
“I feel that he has a lot more years to play, Rohit, if he takes care of his fitness. He is someone close to genius. I have seen him pick balls on the front foot and hit them square for sixes. He has own USP. Nobody can take that away.”
