'The reports are totally fake': Mumbai Indians deny rumours on Rohit Sharma's trade after Hardik captaincy announcement

Amid cryptic posts from Suryakumar and Bumrah, there were rumours and reports of a rift within the Mumbai Indians team

Last Friday, Mumbai Indians grabbed all the attention of world cricket when they decided to officially announce Hardik Pandya, acquired back through trade with Gujarat Titans last month, as their new captain, thus ending the 10-year leadership tenure for Rohit Sharma. Amid cryptic posts from Suryakumar Yadav, preceded by Jasprit Bumrah, made on the day of the Hardik announcement, there were rumours and reports of a rift within the Mumbai Indians team and that these bunch of players could possibly be traded as well. But Mumbai Indians strongly denied the rumours ahead of the start of the IPL 2024 auction in Dubai on Tuesday. (IPL Auction 2024 Live Updates)

Hardik Pandya was named as the new Mumbai Indians captain on Friday

"Rohit is not going anywhere, nor will any player," said a senior Mumbai Indians official to Cricbuzz on the sidelines of the mini-auction at the Coca-Cola Arena. "The news reports are totally fake and false. No MI player will be leaving us, nor will be traded by us."

The official further confirmed the website that every player in the Mumbai Indians team was made aware of the captaincy decision, including Rohit, who is in fact part of the decision-making process. "Every player was taken into confidence before the decision was made. Rohit too was informed, and he is very much part of the decision-making process," the official added.

There were also reports suggesting that Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings have both approached Mumbai Indians for a possible trade on Rohit with the trading window set to re-open on Wednesday, post the IPL 2024 auction, and will close until 30 days before the start of the season. Cricbuzz, in their report, confirmed that one of those aforementioned franchises did approach MI, but the offer was rejected. "We would have given anything for Rohit, but we are no longer in the race," the franchise official told this website.

Rohit did lead Mumbai to five IPL title crows between 2013 and 2023, but his batting numbers in the last few seasons have been unimpressive. In fact, since 2020, he has scored just 1313 runs in four seasons at an average of just 23.9.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, speaking to Star Sports, pointed out the same saying: "We shouldn't go into rights and wrongs. But, the decision they have taken is for the benefit of the team. In the last two years, Rohit's contribution, even with the bat, has dipped a little bit. Earlier, he used to score big, but in the last two years, they finished No. 9 or No. 10 the year before last year and in the last year they qualified for the playoffs," Gavaskar said in a chat on Star Sports.