Rohit will be Pandya’s right-hand man

Mumbai, March 18

Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya today said his predecessor Rohit Sharma will continue to be a guiding force for him during the IPL despite the unexpected change of leadership that the franchise announced ahead of the upcoming season, triggering a “backlash” from the fans.

Pandya, who led Gujarat Titans in the past two seasons, is back at Mumbai Indians as captain for the 2024 edition. Having led Mumbai Indians to five titles, Rohit was surprisingly replaced by Pandya going into the upcoming season.

“I don’t think it will be any awkward or any different. It will be a nice feeling because we have been playing for 10 years. I have played my whole career under him and he is going to have his hand on my shoulder throughout the season,” he added.

The star all-rounder will be making his comeback at the IPL, having undergone a lengthy rehabilitation for the ankle injury he suffered during the ODI World Cup at home in October.

“I have no issues with my body, I plan to play all the games. In the IPL, I have not missed many games anyway. Technically, I was out for three months. It was a freak injury. We pushed but it would have been an uphill task that I would be fit for the World Cup semifinals or the final. When we pushed, it kind of triggered the injury and my recovery took longer (than expected),” he said.

Meanwhile, MI head coach Mark Boucher said the team is waiting to hear from the Indian cricket board on the fitness status of star batter Suryakumar Yadav.

“We are awaiting updates on Suryakumar from the BCCI. We have always been under a cloud of fitness issues but we have a world-class medical team. We may lose one or two in terms of fitness but we have to move on as it is sport,” Boucher said.

He also said there would be no policy of resting the players keeping this year’s T20 World Cup in mind.