Are indifferences and cracks already appearing within the Mumbai Indians dressing room? If not then one must look at the video where MI’s replacement pacer Luke Wood ignored the franchise’s former 5-time IPL-winning captain Rohit Sharma who was just trying to cheer the Englishman. The Hardik Pandya-led MI side are currently fighting it out against his former franchise – 2022 winners Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi stadium.
It was the 3rd delivery of the 2nd powerplay over when Luke Wood had bowled to GT opener Wriddhiman Saha for a dot ball. As Wood was picking up the ball, Rohit Sharma jumped from the other side of the pitch towards the bowler in an attempt to cheer him. However, Wood completely ignored Rohit, who was expecting a high 5 from the former but instead headed back to his position.
It definitely raises a question about the environment of the dressing room after the arrival of Hardik Pandya as the captain. Is it already divided into groups? One led by Pandya and the other by Rohit Sharma?
Watch Luke Wood ignoring Rohit Sharma
Debutant Luke wood ignored Rohit 😭 pic.twitter.com/FF1qNDe88X
— T⊶8 (@vintagevk18) March 24, 2024
It’s just Mumbai’s first match and things like this are already happening that too, to a player of Rohit Sharma’s size. Luke Wood, who is coming on the back of an 11-wicket season across borders in the Pakistan Super League season 9, should be aware of his seniors trying to cheer him.
Questions are also been raised as to why there is a Babar Azam connection because Wood had featured for Peshawar Zalmi in season 9, which is captained by the star Pakistan batsman. There are still 2 months of action left in the Indian Premier League and if Wood does that again then he must be ready for the backlash from Rohit Sharma’s huge fanbase over here.
Regardless of anything, all the MI players be it Rohit, Pandya, or Ishan Kishan, everyone is playing for only one objective and that is to land a 6th title for the franchise. Their aim should be revolving around making Mumbai the most successful IPL team once again but with this type of attitude, it will be interesting to see how their season pans out.
Moreover, this opening match against Gujarat Titans is an important one because MI haven’t won a single game against them at the World’s largest stadium. In their previous two meetings at the Narendra Modi stadium in the 2023 season, GT came out on top – first by 55 runs in a league stage match and then by 62 runs in the Qualifier 2 match. So, today’s game is very important in every sense.
GT aiming to post at least 180 after losing the toss
Meanwhile, the Gujarat Titans are batting first after losing the toss and they haven’t had the best of starts. Even though the home side have scored runs at a decent run rate, MI’s bowlers have made sure to collect wickets at regular intervals. The top and middle order of Saha, Gill, Omarzai, and Miller, all departed after getting to a good start. Number 3 batter Sai Sudharsan is currently nearing his fifty and he will aim to take GT beyond 175-180.
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