In the upcoming Indian Premier League season, it is Hardik Pandya who will be leading five-time champions Mumbai Indians. In December last year, MI traded Hardik in an all-cash deal from Gujarat Titans and later named him the skipper. Rohit, who led MI to five titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020, will be there in the team but no more the captain. Speaking on the surprise change made by Mumbai, South Africa great AB de Villiers said that it created "big controversy".
"Mumbai Indians, incredibly successful team of the IPL. They have won (IPL title) five times. Big controversy over the last few months was that Hardik Pandya coming in as new captain in place of Rohit Sharma . They seem to be happy though. They seemed to have moved on. It's great to have Hardik Pandya back in blue at his home team, playing for the Mumbai Indians. They will be starting against Gujarat Titans, how ironic is that," said De Villiers on his YouTube channel.
Last year's runners-up GT and MI will square off against each other in a mouth-watering clash on March 24 at Ahmedabad. The fixture has gained a lot of hype because of star all-rounder Hardik's move to his former franchise MI following two great seasons with GT, which saw him win the trophy with the side as captain in their debut season back in 2022.
While Pandya will be leading MI this time, Shubman Gill has taken over the captaincy of GT.
The 17th season of IPL will start on March 22, with defending champions Chennai Super Kings set to take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in a South Indian derby at their home arena -- MA Chidambaram Stadium.
The schedule till April 7 has been revealed as of now, with the remainder to be announced later because of the upcoming Lok Sabha Polls, the dates for which are yet to be notified.
(With ANI Inputs)
