Hardik Pandya to captain Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024, Rohit Sharma’s 10 year resign comes to an end

Mumbai Indians have appointed the returning Hardik Pandya as their new captain for the upcoming IPL season, taking over from Rohit Sharma after a 10-year stint as skipper. Hardik, who led Gujarat Titans to the IPL crown in 2022, was traded back to Mumbai Indians after 2 years last month and is set to don a new role, succeeding the joint-most successful captain in the history of the IPL.

Rohit Sharma along with MS Dhoni, has won the title most times for his franchise – five but where Sharma stands out in that he achieved it across 10 seasons as compared to MSD’s 12.

“It is part of legacy building and staying true to the MI philosophy of being future-ready. Mumbai Indians have always been blessed with exceptional leadership right from Sachin to Harbhajan and Ricky to Rohit, who while contributing to the immediate success have always had an eye on strengthening the team for the future. It is in keeping with this philosophy that Hardik Pandya will assume captaincy of Mumbai Indians for the IPL 2024 season,” Mahela Jayawardene said.

Hardik Pandya announced as captain for the IPL 2024 season.

Read more➡️https://t.co/vGbcv9HeYq pic.twitter.com/SvZiIaDnxw

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) December 15, 2023

The release furthermore stated, “We express our gratitude to Rohit Sharma for his exceptional leadership; his tenure as the captain of the Mumbai Indians since 2013 has been nothing short of extraordinary. His leadership has not only brought unparalleled success to the team but has also solidified his place as one of the finest captains in the history of the IPL.”

Hardik, who had left MI for Gujarat a couple of seasons back and led the new franchise to a title in their first ever IPL season. Defending the title this year, Pandya and Co made it to the final again only to lose against CSK.

To new beginnings. Good luck, #CaptainPandya 💙 pic.twitter.com/qRH9ABz1PY

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) December 15, 2023

“The feeling of coming back to Mumbai is very special for a lot of reasons. How my cricketing journey started in 2015 with MI, them noticing me in 2013,” Pandya had said on his return to his first IPL franchise. “When I look back, the whole span of 10 years has been something very special. It has not sunk in yet that I’m finally back where my whole cricketing journey started. I have achieved all the possible things.”

Hardik Pandya’s trade back to MI was one of the highlights of the player trading window ahead of the IPL 2024 auction. To accommodate the Indian all-rounder, the franchise had traded Australia’s Cameron Green to RCB.