All is not well between Rohit Sharma and Mumbai Indians after he was removed from captaincy despite leading the franchise to five IPL titles. In his recent interview, MI head coach Mark Boucher claimed that removing Rohit was purely a cricketing reason.
However, Rohit’s wife, Ritika Sajdeh, has hit out at Boucher. According to her latest Instagram activity, the remarks made by Boucher are not true.
This is going to cause more rift between the player and the franchise. Former South Africa wicket-keeper, who heads the coaching at Mumbai Indians, said that the franchise is going through a transition phase and it was important to bring in a new leader.
“Rohit has been a fantastic leader but it was the right time to move on and go ahead with Hardik Pandya. Fans shouldn’t take it to their hearts as emotions have no value in such decisions. We thought it would be right for Rohit to play as a player and contribute with the bat,” Mark Boucher said on the Smash Sports podcast.
“We spoke about changing our captain and felt that the time has come. Rohit has been a true leader and we feel it time he enjoys his game without any pressure of leading a side. He has a beautiful family and deserves to spend time with them,” he added.
Ritika refused to take Boucher’s words as Gospel Truth and slammed the veteran without taking his name. Here is what she wrote on a reel of Mark Boucher explaining why Mumbai Indians removed Rohit.
Hardik was brought back from Gujarat Titans through a transfer window. He was with Mumbai Indians for years before joining GT in 2022.
The all-rounder was not retained by Mumbai, and Gujarat offered him a captaincy along with a salary of INR 15 crore. Hardik achieved instant success as Titans won the title in 2022 and finished as runner-up in 2023.
He agreed to join Mumbai Indians on condition of leading the side from IPL 2024.
Rohit hasn’t said anything about his sudden removal from captaincy, and there is a chance he could head to a new franchise before the upcoming season, as the transfer window is still open.
Delhi Capitals could be his new destination as the franchise was left with more than INR 25 crore in its purse after the mini-auction in 2023.