With a few months left for the IPL auction to get underway and another for the 2027 edition to begin, the Mumbai Indians could see a big captaincy change.
With Hardik Pandya likely to shift his base after reports claim that other franchises are showing immense interest in acquiring the all-rounder, Rohit Sharma could yet again be given the captaincy duties as the five-time champions look to get their fortunes back on track.
Why is Mumbai Indians returning to Rohit Sharma to captain the franchise?
While the claim by the social media post is purely speculative and there are no reliable reports of the veteran being appointed captain again, it would make sense. With the Nagpur-born cricketer guiding the Mumbai Indians to five titles since getting the role midway through IPL 2013, there was massive backlash from the fans when Pandya replaced him ahead of the 2024 edition. The seam-bowling all-rounder was notably traded by the Mumbai Indians from the Gujarat Titans in an all-cash deal but it has backfired. Since 2020, the five-time champions haven’t even reached the final and struggling consistently to match their standards.
How did Hardik Pandya perform in IPL 2026?
Pandya, who captained the Mumbai Indians, could manage only four wins in 14 games as the five-time champions finished 9th in the standings above the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) despite bona fide T20 stars like Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Tilak Varma, Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult among others. The skipper’s own form came under massive scrutiny as he managed only 206 runs in 10 games at 22.89 alongside four wickets, averaging 64.75.
There has reportedly been strong interest from the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to get the star all-rounder in their side. Nevertheless, any official news about trade, release or retention is likely to come out only by the end of the year, a month or two before the auction take place.