India’s former left-arm orthodox spinner Pragyan Ojha feels Rohit Sharma should continue playing for Mumbai Indians. Rohit led MI to five titles in the IPL but the management handed over the captaincy baton to Hardik Pandya in the previous season.
Under Pandya’s captaincy, MI finished IPL 2024 as the cellar dwellers, with only four wins in 14 matches of the league phase.
Rohit has performed consistently for the Mumbai Indians, both as a leader as well as a batter. However, his performances as a batter have not been top-class in the last couple of seasons.
Rohit also announced his T20I retirement after taking India to glory in the World Cup but he will continue to play in the IPL.
Pragyan Ojha said in an interview with Insidesport, “It won’t be easy if that happens (Rohit leaving Mumbai Indians). Personally, I would say that Rohit should continue to play for Mumbai Indians because of the contribution that he’s made. And he has grown as a captain, as a player. The stature that he is in today, is somewhere connected to Mumbai Indians.”
“So I would say that if he stays there – well and good. But if he moves on, that’s how it is. Because this is a franchise tournament and sometimes these things happen,” Ojha went on to add.
On the other hand, former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra recently said Rohit Sharma could be released by MI ahead of the mega auction.
“Anything can happen but I don’t think Rohit is going to be retained here. I don’t have any information but I feel Rohit will probably be released. He might go to someone in the trade window, that’s a possibility that he doesn’t go to the auction, but if that doesn’t happen, he might be seen in the auction. I feel his journey with the Mumbai Indians is over”
Rohit has amassed 6628 runs in 257 IPL matches at an average of 29.72 and a strike rate of 131.14. The talisman has been associated with Mumbai Indians since IPL 2011.
