Amid numerous rumours of Hardik Pandya’s possible trade ahead of the retention deadline, the former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra reckoned that the ace all-rounder shouldn’t have any issues playing under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy for Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2027.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra asserted that it was the Mumbai Indians that gave Pandya the much-needed limelight after acquiring his services at INR 10 Lakh in the IPL 2015 auction.
“Rohit Sharma as a captain – is that a possibility? Yes, there is a possibility. And if Hardik Pandya isn’t traded, he will be okay playing under Rohit Sharma. I don’t think it was ever an issue. Why won’t he play if there is no trade and if there is no discussion. Mumbai Indians bought him for ₹20 lakh (₹10 lakh) back in the day. So, when they did everything for him, it can’t be that he won’t play. He will play,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Chopra further suggested that Mumbai Indians could explore Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav as potential candidates to lead the franchise. Notably, MI last lifted the IPL trophy in the 2020 season in the UAE, with Rohit Sharma at the helm.
“Tilak Varma is another candidate. And, I don’t know Suryakumar Yadav is not a part of the conversation. He will give you more years. But, we are talking about Rohit. It’s an interesting one. So, we’ll wait and watch who gets the captaincy,” he added.
Following their decision to part ways with Mahela Jayawardene, Mumbai Indians have promoted former batting coach Kieron Pollard to the role of head coach. The franchise has also brought in former India batter Robin Uthappa as batting coach, while T Dilip has been appointed as the new fielding coach. Former MI players Mitchell McClenaghan and Dhawal Kulkarni have also joined the coaching setup as bowling coach and development bowling coach, respectively.
