Rohit Sharma Gives First Reaction After Ritika Sajdeh’s Mark Boucher Comments On MI Captaincy Row

As the IPL 2024 season approaches, the conversation about Rohit Sharma’s future with the Mumbai Indians has become more prevalent. The appointment of Hardik Pandya as the new captain has further fueled the speculation surrounding this pivotal shift in leadership.

After spending time with the Deccan Chargers, Rohit Sharma joined the Mumbai Indians in 2011. In 2013, he took over as captain halfway through the season. Significantly, under his leadership, the franchise won the IPL championship five times. While with the Mumbai Indians, he made various records that are still unbeatable.

That’s why the choice to remove Sharma as captain has infuriated Mumbai Indian supporters. Since then, supporters have expressed their wish to see Rohit back on the field via various social media channels. Consequently, it sparked conversations regarding his future with the team.

However, head coach Mark Boucher has backed the Mumbai Indians’ choice to name Hardik Pandya the team’s new captain, calling it a “pure cricketing decision.” Boucher attributed the leadership shift primarily to Rohit’s declining batting performances over the past few IPL seasons.

Notably, Boucher’s explanation was met with public disapproval by Ritika Sajdeh, Rohit Sharma’s wife. She voiced her displeasure on Instagram in the SmashSports podcast’s comments area. A few days later, Rohit Sharma addressed the issue surrounding the Mumbai Indians on social media.

Ritika Sajdeh speaks amid the Mumbai Indians captaincy debate

The Mumbai Indians’ decision to replace Rohit Sharma as captain has stirred discontent among fans. Over ten seasons, MI secured the title five times, the highest by any team during this period, and Rohit boasted the best win-loss record as captain, surpassing MS Dhoni of CSK.

To defend the skipper switch, Mark Boucher said in a SmashSports podcast that Rohit’s declining batting average in prior IPL seasons was the sole factor in his “cricketing decision.”

In the SmashSports podcast’s Instagram comments area, Ritika, Rohit’s wife, voiced her displeasure with Boucher’s answer, writing,

“So many things wrong with this.”

Rohit Sharma sent out a supportive post for his wife

In his first response since Ritika’s post, Rohit shared a picture of his wife on his social media, captioning it:

“Always by my side @ritssajdeh.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Rohit Sharma (@rohitsharma45)

Although a message like that would usually go undetected, a specific post sparked rumors among followers. Many stated, “Those who know the reason behind this post,” while some wrote, “The caption said it all.” Regarding Rohit Sharma’s future with MI, this unexpected social media conversation added yet another level of mystery and conjecture.

Mark Boucher eager to see Rohit Sharma making recovery

While Mark Boucher defended the team’s choice to change the captain, he also had some other plans for Rohit Sharma. He believes that removing Rohit from leadership could ease the pressure on the batter. Speaking about it, he said,

“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. 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.”

What do you think about this controversy? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section.