Exactly a month ago, Mumbai Indians sent the internet into a frenzy when they appointed Hardik Pandya as the captain of the franchise for IPL 2024, marking the end of the Rohit Sharma era. Hardik, who was traded to MI despite leading Gujarat Titans to consecutive finals, coming back to the franchise he began his IPL career with was always going to be a star-studded deal. The five-time champions haven't won a title in three seasons – the first time they went without a trophy since the beginning – so something had to give. How do you replace the most successful captain in the history of IPL with someone who has the experience of leading a side for two seasons? Simple… you go by current form. And on current form, Hardik is sizzling hot.
While the decision continues to draw mixed reactions, Yuvraj Singh feels that with so much on stake for IPL franchises, the decision to replace Rohit with Hardik wasn't exactly a jolt out of the blue. Citing his own example, Yuvraj believes that looking towards the future remains the ultimate goal for every team – international or IPL – but at the same time, Rohit's achievement as captain and the wealth of experience that he brings to the table is irreplaceable.
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"In franchise cricket, it always gets tough as you get old. Every franchise is always looking to promote a young player on whom they have spent a lot, and that is only fair. I have faced this situation too. But then, there can't be a replacement for experience. Rohit has huge experience and has delivered. But a franchise has to think long term," Yuvraj told the Times of India.
What next for Rohit, the T20 batter?
With a demotion at MI, Rohit's career – especially in T20s – is at the crossroads. He remains a sure shot starter in Tests and even ODIs, if he plans to playing till the 2025 Champions Trophy – but questions have lingered over his T20 future ever since India crashed and burned against England in the semi-final of the 2022 T20 World Cup. He was absent from India's T20I set-up for over a year and endured a pretty ordinary IPL by his standards – 332 runs at an average of 20.75. With the T20 World Cup five months away, Rohit made an unexpected return in India's T20I mould but his comebacks were more of a whimper than a blast with back-to-back ducks.
{{/usCountry}}With a demotion at MI, Rohit's career – especially in T20s – is at the crossroads. He remains a sure shot starter in Tests and even ODIs, if he plans to playing till the 2025 Champions Trophy – but questions have lingered over his T20 future ever since India crashed and burned against England in the semi-final of the 2022 T20 World Cup. He was absent from India's T20I set-up for over a year and endured a pretty ordinary IPL by his standards – 332 runs at an average of 20.75. With the T20 World Cup five months away, Rohit made an unexpected return in India's T20I mould but his comebacks were more of a whimper than a blast with back-to-back ducks.
{{/usCountry}}Rohit wasn't the only superstar back in India's T20I plans. Virat Kohli, also away since November of 2022, made his comeback and scored an entertaining 29 off 16 balls against Afghanistan in the 2nd T20 at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium. With some exceptionally talented youngsters knocking on the door, the experience of Kohli and Rohit is facing some stiff competition from the combined youth of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube among other, but Yuvraj remains reserved in straightaway ruling Ro-Ko out.
"A number of young players have been doing very well in T20s. Having said that, there can be no replacement for experience either," he added.