"Lot of people don’t understand in India, people get quite emotional"- Mark Boucher details rationale behind replacing Rohit Sharma as MI captain

Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mark Boucher recently opened up on the rationale behind the franchise replacing long-time skipper Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as captain for the upcoming IPL season.

After two years with the Gujarat Titans (GT), Hardik returned to MI in an all-cash deal during the off-season. The trade was followed by the all-rounder being named Mumbai's skipper for IPL 2024. It also ended Rohit Sharma's 11-year tenure from 2013 as MI captain and led to outrage from fans.

Speaking on the Smash Sports podcast, Boucher stated that the decision was made to free Rohit from the burden of captaincy so he could enjoy his batting.

“I think it was purely a cricketing decision. We saw the window period to get Hardik back as a player," Boucher said. "For me, it’s a transition phase. A lot of people don’t understand in India, people get quite emotional But you know you take the emotions away from it.

"I think it’s just more of a cricketing decision that was made and I do think it is going to bring the best out of Rohit as a person as a player. Just let him go out and enjoy and score some good runs."

Mark Boucher added that captaincy and its pressures might have taken a toll on Rohit Sharma, leading to his dismal form over the past few seasons.

"One thing I did pick up with Ro (Rohit) is that he is a fantastic guy. I mean he’s been captaining for ages and he’s done really well for Mumbai Indians. Now he also leads India as well. It is that he walks into a place and there’s just cameras in it and he’s so busy and he hasn’t had probably the best couple of seasons of late with the bat but he’s done well as a captain," Boucher stated.

The 36-year-old is the fourth leading scorer in IPL history with 6,211 runs and has led MI to five titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.

However, Rohit's batting form has seen a considerable dip, with the champion batter averaging 20 over the last two seasons. He has also failed to average even 30 in his previous seven seasons since 2017.

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"We thought that maybe this is the opportunity for him to step as a player" - Mark Boucher on Rohit Sharma

Rohit will look to rediscover his batting form in the IPL.

Mark Boucher feels the upcoming IPL season presents an excellent opportunity for Rohit Sharma to up his game with the bat. Despite his struggles last year, MI finished third after losing to the Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2.

"We thought that maybe this is the opportunity for him to step as a player. We believe he got some great value to add and just go out there and actually enjoy it without the hype of being a captain. He is still going to captain India so that hype’s gonna be there but when he steps into the IPL maybe just taking that extra bit of pressure off him as a captain an maybe we get the best out of Rohit Sharma," Boucher said.

Boucher also praised Hardik Pandya's captaincy skills by saying:

"He is a Mumbai Indians boy. He went to other franchise, won the title in first year, ended up runner-up in his second year. So there’s obviously some very good leadership skills as well."

Hardik Pandya played for MI in the first seven seasons of his IPL career and helped the franchise win four of its five titles. The 30-year-old moved to GT and captained the side for two years in the 2022 and 2023 IPL seasons. He helped the side clinch the title in their maiden IPL appearance in 2022 and missed out on making it consecutive triumphs due to a last-ball defeat to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the final last season.