A lot can happen over an emoji, even if not intended to. Such is the world of social media. Suryakumar Yadav's latest tweet on Saturday is the perfect example of that. The world's No.1 T20I batter took to X to post an emoji of a broken heart. Considering it came from a man who recently scored his fourth T20I century - joint most with Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell - and led India to a series-equalling victory over South Africa, it seemed doubly odd.
No wonder, the tweet garnered 52 thousand likes, 11 thousand reposts and about 5 thousand comments in just three hours. But why? What does the broken heart emoji mean? Is it because of the video of an incident inside India's team bus that went viral recently? In that video, Surya was seen talking to Arshdeep Singh animatedly after the third T20I against South Africa. Or does it have something to do with the recent developments at his IPL franchise, Mumbai Indians?
MI named Hardik Pandya as their captain, putting an end to Rohit Sharma's nearly 11-year-long journey as the franchise's leader. Both Surya and Hardik made their MI debuts under Rohit's captaincy. While Surya continues to be an integral part of MI along with Jasprit Bumrah and Ishan Kishan, the change in leadership is bound to have its effects.
Whatever may be the reason behind Surya's tweet, it surely caught the fans' attention. The majority of the reactions to that tweet, which had 3 million views in 3 hours, were related to the captaincy change in MI.
Here are some of the reactions to Surya's tweet
{{/usCountry}}Whatever may be the reason behind Surya's tweet, it surely caught the fans' attention. The majority of the reactions to that tweet, which had 3 million views in 3 hours, were related to the captaincy change in MI.
Here are some of the reactions to Surya's tweet
{{/usCountry}}Pandya, 30, returned to his former franchise Mumbai only last month in a high-profile trade after a successful two-year stint with Gujarat Titans.
Mumbai Indians said the change in leadership was a part of their future planning and thanked Rohit, the joint-most-successful captain in the tournament's history alongside Chennai Super Kings' M.S. Dhoni.
"It is part of legacy building and staying true to the MI philosophy of being future-ready," Mahela Jayawardene, Mumbai's global head of performance, said in a statement late Friday.
"It is in keeping with this philosophy that Hardik Pandya will assume captaincy of Mumbai Indians for the IPL 2024 season."
Jayawardene expressed gratitude to Rohit, 36, for his "exceptional leadership" since taking the reins in 2013.
"His leadership has not only brought unparalleled success to the team but has also solidified his place as one of the finest captains in the history of the IPL," he said.
Rohit led Mumbai 163 times in the IPL and the Champions League T20, winning 91 games, drawing four and losing 68.
But the last three seasons have been a disappointment for the franchise.
They failed to make the playoffs in 2021 and 2022, and departed the 2023 tournament knockout with a loss to Titans in the second qualifier.
Rohit is currently India's all-format captain, but has not played a T20 international since a semi-final defeat at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.
Pandya has led India in 13 of their last 25 T20Is but is currently out of action with an ankle injury sustained during this year's ODI World Cup.
Led by Rohit, hosts India lost the World Cup final to Australia after winning 10 games on the trot.