"We don't know what's right and what's wrong" - Aakash Chopra on Rohit Sharma's wife's comment on Mark Boucher's statement about MI's captaincy change

Aakash Chopra has said that he won't judge Mumbai Indians (MI)'s decision to replace Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as their captain for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. However, he feels that the newly appointed captain might have an arduous task to extract the best from his players.

Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher recently said that the franchise's call to appoint Hardik as captain was a cricketing decision and shouldn't be judged emotionally. He added that the move might help bring the best out of Rohit as a player.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra reflected on some of the recent happenings in the cricketing world. Regarding Rohit's wife commenting on Boucher's explanation, he said:

"I was listening to an interview with Boucher where he explained why they did the captaincy change. He tried to explain the cricketing reasons, but Ritika (Rohit's wife) commented below that, and it was obvious that it would go viral because she said - 'So many things are wrong with this'.

"We don't know what's right and what's wrong. I am slightly worried because the Mumbai Indians have a phenomenal team on paper, but the biggest pressure on Hardik Pandya will be whether he can combine the five fingers to make a fist, whether he can take the entire team in one direction," the former India opener added.

The Rohit-led Mumbai Indians lost to Gujarat Titans, who were captained by Hardik, in Qualifier 2 in IPL 2023. The five-time champions didn't qualify for the playoffs in the previous two seasons and will hope that the captaincy change triggers a turnaround in their fortunes.

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"I hope he is in a happy space" - Aakash Chopra on Ishan Kishan not playing competitive cricket due to mental fatigue

Ishan Kishan hasn't played any competitive cricket since November last year.

On Rahul Dravid's recent statement that Ishan Kishan will be considered for international cricket once he makes himself available and is back on the field, Aakash Chopra said:

"He is right. It's been a long time since Ishan Kishan took a break. He hasn't played any cricket, and he has been on an extended break. He is not playing first-class cricket as well. Since he asked for leave due to mental fatigue, I hope he is in a happy space."

The cricketer-turned-commentator opined that the wicketkeeper-batter is unlikely to return to the Indian team before he plays some competitive cricket.

"I feel he will get a chance to play in the Indian team only once he starts playing.

"If he is not going to play for a while, the Indian team is not going to consider him, whether Kona Bharat scores runs or not, Dhruv Jurel plays or (Narayan) Jagadeesan's name comes," Chopra elaborated.

Chopra observed that the Indian think tank would have some protocols in place for players making a return after a long break. However, he acknowledged that a similar protocol would not be followed for Virat Kohli, reasoning that there's a difference between the former India captain and Kishan.