When Mumbai Indians discovered Rohit Sharma’s captaincy skills!

(Rohit Sharma with his 5 IPL Trophies)

A team with 0 IPL titles in the first 5 years completely changed their fate by taking a single decision and then went on to win 5 trophies in just 8 years. The date of 24th April 2013 will always be cherished by the Mumbai Indians fans as on this day, they got their new captain and Mumbai Cha Raja, Rohit Sharma who did an amazing job for them as a captain. After trying captains like Harbhajan Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and others, the Mumbai Indians management finally got Rohit Sharma as their leader who gave them the success and allowed them to be ranked as the “Best Team in the IPL” history because of the way he leads them.

Who appointed Rohit Sharma as MI Captain?

It was the 2013 IPL Auction and with Sachin Tendulkar playing his last season for the team, they were in desperate need of getting a brilliant leader. This is where the side bought Ricky Ponting and made him the captain of the ship to take them to the IPL Trophy. However, after just 6 matches, Ricky Ponting decided to step down from the captaincy because of his poor performance and the team also wasn’t doing well under his captaincy. In the meeting, Ricky Ponting said that:

“I was at Mumbai Indians when Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy there. I was bought in the auction to be their captain and unfortunately, I wasn't playing well enough after the first few games to keep myself in the team, so I had to make room for another international player to come into the side. The owners and the team management wanted to know who I thought would be the appropriate person to take over the leadership at the Mumbai Indians. There were a few names thrown around between owners and the other coaches but it was really clear to me that there was only one guy that could lead the team - he was a young guy and his name happened to be Rohit Sharma.”

(Rohit Sharma and Ricky Ponting having a chat during an MI Practice session)

With the decision taken by the Mumbai Indians management, it became easy for Rohit Sharma to come up and lead a balanced team. Moreover, he was already the vice captain in Deccan Chargers under Adam Gilchrist and it helped him to know the tactics better hence in the match against Kolkata Knight Riders, he made his captaincy debut and made the Mumbai Indians team won by a margin of 5 wickets in the first encounter.

Looking at the Rohit Sharma’s Legacy as MI Captain

After being announced as the captain of the Mumbai Indians team mid season, Rohit Sharma took some crucial calls of making a balanced playing XI and gave a specific role to everyone present in the team. Moreover, in the first press conference as a captain, he said that the teams should fear coming to Mumbai.

“Home games are very important because you don’t know what you are going to get outside. You have to win as many as possible when you play at home and we are trying to make full use of that. We want to make it our fortress. We want to make it our den and people should fear coming to Mumbai and playing.”

This statement was enough to convince Mumbai Indians that they were in safe hands and their leader was going to win them the title. In 2013, he played 19 games for the team and scored 538 runs while averaging 38.42 with the bat and a strike rate of 131.54 which gave the Mumbai Indians their maiden IPL title. In 2015 again, Mumbai Indians managed to reach the Finals of the league and defeated Chennai Super Kings to lift their 2nd IPL title in just 3 seasons since Rohit Sharma took over. He contributed well with the bat and got 482 runs with a strike rate of 144.

(Rohit Sharma after winning the IPL Title in 2015)

The 2017 IPL season, it was an average season with the bat for Rohit Sharma as he was able to score just 333 runs from the 17 innings played while having a strike rate of 121.97 but he was spot on with his captaincy skills. Even in the Finals of the 2017 season, Mumbai managed to defend a low total against the Rising Pune Super Giants and his field placement to get Steve Smith out gave Mumbai Indians their third IPL Title.

Talking about the 2019 IPL season, it was complete mayhem for the Mumbai Indians team as they had formed an amazing group of players and the team looked unbeatable. Rohit Sharma had a mediocre season with the bat as he got only 405 runs from the 15 innings played and had a strike rate of 128.57. Players like Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah and others played their part well and gave the Mumbai Indians their 4th title of the League.

(Rohit Sharma with the IPL Trophy in the 2019 season)

Just like being at the top in the 2019 season, the team’s domination continued in the 2020 season too. Throughout the season, the team was at the top of the table and was defeating the other teams comprehensively. In that season, Rohit Sharma failed to make an impact with the bat and scored just 332 runs from the 12 innings played and had just a strike rate of 127.69. However, in the Finals, he was able to post a fifty-plus score that allowed them to defeat the Delhi Capitals easily and lift the second consecutive trophy. With 5 trophies to their name, the team became the most successful franchise in the history of the Indian Premier League.

But after the 2021 season, it wasn’t an ideal tournament for the Mumbai Indians and their captain Rohit Sharma. With the release of star players like Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Lasith Malinga, Quinton de Kock and others, the team completely trembled under pressure and hence they finished at the last spot in the points table which even questioned Rohit’s form and his captaincy skills. However, in the 2023 season, the team went on to play the Qualifiers 2 but lost against the Gujarat Titans and hence finished at the 3rd position. But the management wasn’t impressed with Rohit’s form and the questions were raised against him.

Hardik Pandya taking over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma

After ending the 2023 season poorly with the bat and the team not getting much success in the last 3 years, Mumbai Indians management finally decided to bring back their star all-rounder Hardik Pandya back into the team who was leading the Gujarat Titans team in 2022 and 2023 seasons. Moreover, he won the title in the 2022 season and even reached the Finals of the League in the 2023 season and hence it impressed the Mumbai Indians management who got in touch with him to come back into the team.

(Hardik Pandya after coming back to Mumbai Indians for the 2024 IPL season)

Mumbai Indians announced that Hardik Pandya will be taking over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma and hence the reign of Rohit Sharma came to an end after winning 5 Trophies in 10 seasons. The management announced the decision through a social media post:

“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. 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. Under his guidance, MI became one of the most successful and loved teams ever. We will look forward to his guidance and experience on and off the field to further strengthen MI. We welcome Hardik Pandya as the new captain of MI and wish him all the very best.”

However, the decision wasn’t widely accepted by the Mumbai Indians fans and Hardik Pandya faced the backlash for it by getting booed in the matches. Even some of the players have been seen taking the advice from Rohit Sharma instead of Hardik Pandya during the crucial moments of the game. For the fans, seeing Rohit Sharma playing under someone will always be difficult.