‘He is going to have his hand on my shoulders’: Hardik Pandya on Rohit Sharma as MI begin new chapter in IPL

Hardik Pandya will be leading Mumbai Indians in the upcoming Indian Premier League after taking over the reins from Rohit Sharma, the most successful captain of the franchise. He has made a return to the franchise after spending two years with Gujarat Titans, where he led them to a title win in one season and runners-up in the other. 

Pandya will now be captaining Rohit Sharma, under whom he has always played as a player. Pandya has opened up on how it will be captaining Rohit and leading MI in the new season. Pandya has said that Rohit is always there to help him. “He will always be there to help me. This team, what it has achieved, it has achieved under him and I just have to carry that forward. He is going to have his hand on my shoulders,” Rohit said at a press conference ahead of the new season of IPL.

Boucher opens on Rohit’s role as batter

Rohit Sharma will now be having a role as batter first even though it is understood that Hardik might seek his former captain’s advice at times. MI head coach Mark Boucher, who earlier mentioned stated that the removal of Rohit from captaincy would give him freedom, also opened on Rohit’s role of batting. “Rohit has been in a fantastic touch. The way he’s hitting the ball against England was fantastic. I am looking forward to see him go out and express himself. If he has a fantastic season, we will be there in the dying stages of the tournament,” Boucher said on Rohit.

Boucher also opened on the prospect of workload management with the T20 World Cup coming ahead. “As coach of Mumbai Indians, I am going to be a little bit biased and hoping to see my best players all games. I have a soft spot for my players and I do understand that they might have niggles and that’s when I will fall back on my medical team and work with them accordingly,” the coach added.

Rohit Sharma is yet to join the Mumbai Indians camp as he took a break after a long and continuous playing time in International cricket. Rohit was last seen in action during India’s latest Test assignment against England at home. MI are set to lock horns against Gujarat Titans on March 24 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.