Rohit Sharma and Mark Boucher. (Image: ANI/X)
After Mumbai Indians (MI) men’s team head coach Mark Boucher revealed the reason for removal of Rohit Sharma as the captain, cricketer’s wife has not reacted to the comments. Boucher did not say anything controversial in the Smash Sports Podcast when speaking on Rohit. He said that Hardik Pandya was made the captain looking at his track record in IPL as well as future. Boucher said that he sees a leader in Hardik and appointing him as captain was a decision taken purely from cricketing point of view.
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Boucher also went on to say that Rohit has not had enjoyed his time as captain in last few seasons and maybe with the pressure of captaincy off, he will be able to perform better with the bat in hand.
MI head coach also acknowledged the noise that went up since Rohit was removed as MI captain with India captain’s fans unfollowing the franchise’s Instagram Page in numbers. Boucher said that Indian fans take these decisions very emotionally.
“I was purely a cricketing decision. We had a chance to bring back Hardik and we capitalized on it. Mumbai Indians are going through a transition phase as far as captaincy is concerned. A lot of fans don’t understand in India and tend to get emotional. You as a team has to take emotions away. It is going to bring the best out of Rohit Sharma as a person and as a player. Let him go out and score good runs for the franchise,” Mark Boucher said on Smash Sports podcast.
This very portion from the whole podcast is going viral on Instagram in form of a Reel. Rohit’s wife Ritika Sajdeh reacted to the Reel on Tuesday, a day after India beat England in 2nd Test under captaincy of Rohit. Ritika wrote: “So many things wrong with this…’.
Fans have taken a note of her reaction as this is the first time that anyone from Rohit’s family has reacted to MI removing him as captain. Since the day Hardik replaced Rohit as captain, the former skipper has maintained silence. Wife Ritika too had been quiet so far. But the comments from Boucher pushed her to share her thoughts over social media.
Boucher stated that there was a discussion regarding captaincy, leading to the decision that it would be best for Rohit to focus solely on playing as a player. It was believed that he could still make valuable contributions as a batter and should approach the game without the burden of captaincy, allowing him to enjoy himself on the field.
While acknowledging that Rohit will continue to lead India, it was emphasized that during the IPL, the aim is for him to play without feeling pressured and to maintain a cheerful demeanor. It was suggested that he should prioritize spending time with his family.