End of an era: Rohit's legacy overshadows his disdainful exit as MI captain

Rohit Sharma might not have had the chance to say goodbye to his captaincy stint at Mumbai Indians in a manner that he would have liked to, but his legacy as the most successful captain lives on

On the evening of Friday, December 15, came the biggest news of the Indian Premier League (IPL) before the 2024 edition’s auction slated for December 19. Hardik Pandya replaced Rohit Sharma, the most successful leader of the league, as the captain of the Mumbai Indians for IPL 2024. This was nothing short of the end of an era as Rohit built Mumbai from a team that could not win a single trophy in the first five editions to one that won five of the next eight.

Start of Rohit’s Era

Rohit Sharma was brought to the Mumbai Indians in 2011 from the Deccan Chargers where he had successfully built an important place in the franchise’s three-year journey, winning the trophy with them in 2009. Mumbai then paid Rs 9.2 crore to acquire his services. It was less than what Kolkata paid for Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan, and Pune paid for Robin Uthappa.

 

The journey began and Rohit Sharma as a batter blossomed in the first two seasons, hitting a century in the first and three fifties in the next. In 2013, after Mumbai failed to get to the final in its previous attempts, bowing out in the playoffs, Rohit was handed over the captaincy a few matches into the season as Ricky Ponting stepped down as captain and retired from all forms of the game. In his first season, Rohit guided the Mumbai side to their maiden IPL title and fulfilled Sachin Tendulkar’s wish of retiring as IPL champion.

Ro,
In 2013 you took over as captain of MI. You asked us to . In victories & defeats, you asked us to ????????????????????. 10 years & 6 trophies later, here we are. Our , your legacy will be etched in Blue & Gold. Thank you,  pic.twitter.com/KDIPCkIVop

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) December 15, 2023

Never Count Mumbai Out

Rohit Sharma also made it a trend that as long as the league was alive, Mumbai Indians were in it. It started when in 2015, after losing five of the first six matches, Mumbai made a remarkable comeback and went on to win the season.

Never Lost a Final

Rohit Sharma is the only captain to have played in five finals and never lost one in the IPL’s history. He clinched the trophy twice in 2017 and 2019 in last-ball thrillers, thanks to bowlers like Mitchell Johnson and Lasith Malinga.

Decline in Form and Captaincy

Since 2020, Rohit Sharma’s form and that of his team declined as the Hitman was able to get only as many as 981 runs in 43 matches between the 2021 and 2023 seasons of the IPL. His average of 22 does not justify the talent that he possesses, and as a result, the form of his team declined too. There is no doubt that the decline in form of Kieron Pollard, the trade of Hardik Pandya to Gujarat, and the unavailability of star bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer hurt the team’s prospects, but Rohit’s form played a massive part in Mumbai’s downfall.

Rohit Sharma's captaincy record at the Mumbai Indians

Matches	Wins	Losses	Tied	W/L Ratio	IPL Titles
158	87	67	4	1.29	5

What’s the Road Ahead for Rohit?

Rohit is still India’s captain in all three formats. But whether he will remain so in the limited overs will now be interesting to see as Hardik has been groomed as the man in waiting to take charge, first from Virat and now from Rohit. Now that Rohit has been replaced by him at the franchise level, the national team might be the next turn of events ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024, scheduled to be played just after the conclusion of IPL 2024.