"Even if the elephant is covered in dust, it will still be respected" - Navjot Singh Sidhu on Rohit Sharma amid MI captaincy saga in IPL 2024

Former India cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu reserved high praise for former Mumbai Indian (MI) captain Rohit Sharma. He suggested that the star batter will continue to be a respectable figure despite losing captaincy ahead of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

Sharma, who led Mumbai to five IPL titles during his stint, was unceremoniously removed as skipper prior to IPL 2024. The franchise named Hardik Pandya as the new captain after trading him in from Gujarat Titans (GT) in an all-cash deal.

The move has received a massive backlash from fans, with Pandya even getting booed during MI's matches. Amid the captaincy saga, Sidhu shared a post on the microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), in which he remarked that even tying a gold chain to a dog won't result in people respecting him.

The cricketer-turned-commentator wrote:

"हाथी चाहे धूल में सना हो फिर भी सम्मानित होगा | कूकर को सोने की ज़ंज़ीरो में भी बांध दो सम्मानित नहीं होता | (Even if the elephant is covered in dust, it will still be respected. Even tying the dog with a gold chain does not make one respectable)."

Rohit Sharma has looked in great touch with the bat in IPL 2024, registering scores of 43 and 26 in two games so far. His runs have come at a fantastic strike rate of 168.29.

---

"I have played in an Indian team where five captains used to play together" - Navjot Singh Sidhu on Rohit Sharma playing under Hardik Pandya leadership in IPL 2024

Navjot Singh Sidhu opined that Rohit Sharma playing under Hardik Pandya's captaincy for Mumbai in IPL 2024 wouldn't make the senior player smaller.

He pointed out how, during his playing days, he played in a team where there were around five players who had captained India, yet there was no dispute. Speaking on Star Sports, Sidhu said:

"I have played in an Indian team where five captains used to play together. Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Ravi Shastri. Pick up a brick and you will find a captain both above and below it. There were no issues because they were playing for their nation. The motivation was to play for your country. So, playing under Hardik does not make Rohit smaller."

Mumbai have opened their campaign with back-to-back losses and are languishing at the penultimate spot in the points table. They are set to play their first home game when they take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Wankhede Stadium on Monday, April 1.