Mumbai Indians are likely to hand over captaincy to Rohit Sharma for their forthcoming IPL season 2027, The Indian Express understands. The decision doesn’t come as a surprise especially after the five-time champions have gone through a complete overhaul of the support staff over the past week.
It is learnt that Mumbai wanted Rohit to take over the franchise captaincy from Hardik Pandya midway through the last IPL when the franchise was struggling. As previously reported by this newspaper, the franchise had already made up its mind on moving on from Pandya as captain, but the question remained who they would turn to.
Under Pandya’s reign, MI had lost 10 of 14 games, finished ninth, and extended their title drought to six years. With the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah part of the setup for a while, there was an option to install a new face. Even Tilak Varma, who is seen as strong leadership material, was an option, should the franchise want to build for the future.
Instead, the franchise has turned to Rohit, who has captained them to five IPL titles — the joint-highest alongside MS Dhoni. “Rohit initially had suggested Tilak Varma’s name but the franchise has requested him to take over captaincy which he has now agreed. There were series of talks that had happened before him flying to New Zealand and Rohit’s suggestions were sought during appointment of new coaches as well,” a source told The Indian Express.
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Last week, when asked about the possibility of Rohit captaining the team for next season, an MI source said, “This is speculation. Until we don’t finish trade window and retention we will not decide this.
“And why do you say for one season He’s still playing and will keep playing for MI till he wants to play.” The source added that a call on the captain will be taken along with the coach when auction-related decisions take place. Now with retention deadline around the corner, MI have made the big decision.
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With Rohit set to take over as captain, all eyes are on the future of Pandya at the franchise. Since last season, the all-rounder has been linked with other franchises in a trade deal.
Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya in action. (FILE photo)
If Pandya’s trade doesn’t take place, it is learnt that the player has agreed to play under Rohit’s captaincy. The franchise received a lot of criticism after they decided to go with Pandya as their captain following an all-cash trade from Gujarat Titans ahead of the 2024 season. The Wankhede crowd repeatedly booed Pandya in their home fixtures.
Having already announced that Kieron Pollard will take over as the head coach, replacing Mahela Jayawardene, the franchise announced the rest of the support staff on Friday. Robin Uthappa, Mitchell McClenaghan and Dhawal Kulkarni return to the franchise they had once represented in the tournament.
While Uthappa was appointed as the batting coach, former New Zealand pacer McClenaghan will take over as the bowling coach from Lasith Malinga. Former India fielding coach T Dilip was named as the new fielding coach for the five-time winners, while Kulkarni was named the new development bowling coach.
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This will be Uthappa’s first major coaching stint in the IPL, having previously represented MI in the inaugural IPL season in 2008. McClenaghan relished a fruitful stint between 2015 and 2020 with MI, becoming a part of four title-winning campaigns. Former Mumbai seamer Kulkarni, too, represented MI in multiple stints, having won the title in 2013 and 2020.
