Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma have become one of the most discussed topics of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2024. Right after the captaincy swap ahead of IPL 2024, Rohit Sharma was seen heartbroken and rumoured to have conflicts with Hardik Pandya while playing for the Mumbai Indians.
Though there was not enough evidence behind the rumours, it was the social media which pulled every possible reason to prove the split in Mumbai’s camp.
Ahead of the IPL 2024, Mumbai Indians traded Hardik Pandya and named him as the captain of the team.
Replacing their five times title-winning captain Rohit Sharma received massive criticism from the cricket community. Mumbai Indians’ performance this season was not up to mark and moreover, MI became the first team to be eliminated from the playoff race.
Under Hardik Pandya, Mumbai Indians were expected to make an extraordinary performance but things got worse than before.
Following the IPL 2024 visuals of the duo, many cricket experts fear that Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya’s unfriendly relationship might cause some serious issues for the Indian camp during the T20 World Cup 2024 set to play within a month.
Speaking of the much-talked-about topic, former Australia captain Michael Clarke doesn’t think the issue between Hardik and Rohit would drag into the Indian national team at the T20 World Cup.
“You know what… knowing Rohit Sharma, he will wrap his arms around Hardik Pandya. That shows the character that Rohit is. He is the Indian captain and trust me… he wants to win that World Cup. He has had a lot of say in the 15 that is picked by India,” Clarke said on Around the Wicket podcast.
Clarke believes that if there was any ‘beef’ between Hardik and Rohit, then the allrounder wouldn’t have made it to India’s squad for the T20 World Cup.
“It’s very different to let’s say the Australian 15. They are heavily focused on spin bowling. If the beef between Rohit and Hardik was as strong as people think, Hardik wouldn’t be in that World Cup campaign. The Indian captain has that much power.”
“I think while there is obviously issues with how Rohit was released off his duties as captain of Mumbai Indians, I don’t think that will affect their friendship, selection or Rohit Sharma. He will make sure Hardik is as focussed as possible,” Clarke further said.
“You’ve seen in the last couple of games and Hardik knows he has to be batting and bowling and has to improve his game from where it’s been in the first half of the IPL. Right now it’s based on performance and as long as Hardik is performing, Rohit knows how important he is for that Indian team.”
Earlier in an official video released by KKR, Rohit Sharma was seen expressing his displeasure over the captaincy swap to KKR assistant coach Abhishek Nayar. In that viral video, Rohit said “Bhai mera kya mera to ye last hai (brother, this is my last anyway)”.
Soon the video was removed by the officials but the short video caused massive destruction to the Mumbai camp.
Mumbai Indians who already lost the playoffs qualification race will face Kolkata Knight Riders to play the 60th match of the IPL 2024 today at Kolkata.
