Mumbai Indians are facing criticism for their decision to remove Rohit Sharma as captain ahead of the Indian Premier League 2024. The team, which has won the championship five times, has struggled in several areas under new captain Hardik Pandya. Many are pointing fingers at the franchise's management and owners for this decision. Former England captain Michael Vaughan has strongly criticized the team, calling it one of the strangest decisions in sports.
After Mumbai conceded 277 runs against SRH in just their second match of IPL 2024, he commented. Hardik appeared clueless, and his decision to open the bowling instead of Jasprit Bumrah was causing further issues.
Bumrah is currently the best fast bowler in world cricket and has won matches for his teams. Former players and fans will remember his match-winning spell in the second Test against England.
Jasprit Bumrah performed exceptionally well against England on a pitch that offered little assistance to the pacers. However, Hardik Pandya has not been utilizing him with the new ball. During the match against Sunrisers, the captain conceded 46 runs in 4 overs and only managed to take one wicket.
Michael Vaughan, who frequently shares his opinions on cricket-related matters, took a strong stance against the Mumbai Indians on his X account:
“Removing Rohit as skipper of the @mipaltanis one of the stranger moves in sport .. Btw .. Henrich Klassen is some player .. He is right up there with great middle order strikers of a white ball .. #IPL2024.”
Mumbai was considered an underachiever until Rohit joined the team in 2011. He successfully led them to five IPL titles, making them the first team to achieve this landmark before Chennai Super Kings joined them in 2023. Rohit is currently leading India across formats in international cricket. Some felt that Mumbai should have allowed the veteran to continue leading the team for another season before giving the captaincy to Hardik.