Rohit Sharma admitted on Thursday that ‘not everything goes your way’ as he reacted to losing the captaincy of MI to Hardik Pandya just before the start of the IPL 2024. Rohit, a beloved figure in Indian cricket, went through an emotional rollercoaster after being removed as captain of Mumbai, which surprised many in the cricket community and was a bitter pill to swallow for his legion of fans, many of whom also booed Hardik while he led the team out in the first few matches this IPL season.
Hardik and Rohit Sharma’s roles will be reversed during the T20 World Cup, which begins on June 2. Rohit, who is currently playing under Hardik as part of MI’s major leadership transition, which has not gone as planned, will return as Pandya’s captain for the important ICC competition. Rohit has been Hardik’s senior and captain for most of his career, but the experience of the past month and the next 30 days promises to change the dynamic. But not in a bad manner, insisted Rohit, explaining how switching back to captaining Hardik after playing under him would not disrupt the rhythm.
“See, it is part of life. Not everything will go your way. It has been a great experience,” the Indian skipper said during a media interaction where he was asked about his experience of playing under Pandya in the ongoing Indian Premier League. There has been a lot of speculation about Rohit’s relationship with Hardik and how the Mumbai franchise handled the leadership issue, which many believe was not done well, especially since it involves someone who has led the franchise to five IPL titles. Rohit is a tough cookie, and his pleasant demeanour hid his true thoughts when he remarked that playing under Pandya is no different than playing under any other captain.
“Before (also), I have not been captain and I have played under a lot of captains. It is no different or new to me,” said Rohit, who has played under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli for India apart from being led by Adam Gilchrist, Harbhajan Singh and Ricky Ponting in franchise cricket.
The 37-year-old has been criticised for failing to score enough runs with the willow in the previous three seasons, but he looked completely different in the 17th edition of the competition. “Whatever is there and you go by it and then try and do what is required from you as a player. I have only tried to do that in the last one month or so,” Rohit doused any fire that the question would have ignited. India captain Rohit has scored 314 runs in 10 innings of IPL 2024 so far.
