How Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya put their differences aside and came together for India at the 2024 T20 World Cup, has thus far, one of the biggest mysteries in Indian cricket. With all that had happened during the IPL with things turning frosty between the two India teammates at Mumbai Indians, the belief was that their tension would spill over to the World Cup. But surprisingly enough, from the moment the ICC tournament began, it was as if nothing had happened between them. Hardik and Rohit appeared to be on the same page from the start, beginning with India’s game against Pakistan in New York, when the India captain hugged and lifted his match-winning all-rounder after Pandya dismissed Shadab Khan.
By the time India won the T20 World Cup, Hardik and Rohit were back as brothers. After Hardik bowled the final over, successfully defended 16, Rohit kissed Pandya on his cheeks in the middle of an interview, hugged him and lifted him in a rare outpour of emotions. As India ploughed through oppositions en route to winning the T20 World Cup unbeaten, Rohit and Hardik went from not talking to becoming world champions, with the process starting a day before the T20 World Cup. Veteran sports journalist Vimal Kumar, who was in the USA when India began their first practice session, revealed that he saw up front how Rohit and Hardik sorted out their issues during long chat.
“When I went to the nets, I noticed what was going on between Hardik and Rohit. On the first day, they didn’t speak and were away from each other. But by the second day, I saw them come over, one after the other, and sit together in a corner, talking for a long time. That moment for me defined this team. There was no camera there; nothing. The way Rohit and Hardik were talking, I was like ‘what am I watching?’,” he said on the ‘Two Sloggers Podcast’.
“There is so much going on in India with the public talking about their differences. After that, for the next three days, Rohit and Hardik would bat parallelly. And then Rohit would point out about his batting, bowling. When I saw that atmosphere and thought if they addressed such a complex issue, the elephant in the room. That vibe I saw demonstrated how relaxed the team atmosphere was.”
Things went awry at Mumbai Indians when Hardik was announced as their captain for IPL 2024, replacing Rohit, the IPL’s most successful skipper. The public backlash was so severe that wherever MI played – home or away – Hardik received a clattering of boos. The visual where Hardik instructed Rohit where to go and field added fuel to the fire, and it reflected on MI’s performance.
