Hardik Pandya puts Rohit Sharma ‘in his place’ in first IPL game as Mumbai Indians captain

Hardik Pandya’s first match as captain of Mumbai Indians ended in a bit of a choke as MI failed to knock off 43 off the last five overs against Gujarat Titans at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

With seven wickets remaining and a set Dewald Brevis and Tilak Varma finding his groove, MI were favourite to end their opening match jinx in the IPL, but it wasn’t to be. GT staged a comeback for the ages as MI imploded to lose six wickets for 38 runs and lose by six runs.

Hardik was heavily invested in his first game back at MI. He dived around and celebrated in the weirdest way possible after taking a catch. With the bat, Hardik gave MI hope but was off colour with the ball, opening the innings and bleeding 20 runs for no wickets. During the game, Hardik also passed on several sets of instructions, as a captain would, but one such directive to his predecessor and ex-MI captain Rohit Sharma made a lot of noise.

There was nothing off about it to be honest. In the final over of the GT innings, bowled by Gerald Coetzee, Hardik asked Rohit to move to long on. The former MI skipper, perhaps confused whom Hardik was pointing towards, confirmed with the captain whether the instruction was indeed directed at him. Once doubly sure, Rohit sprinted to long-on and took his position there. But that wasn’t it. Hardik probably wanted Rohit to be a little squarer, or at mid-wicket as he kept on conveying messages through hand gestures.

Watch Hardik instructing Rohit:

It was a surreal sight nonetheless as for years as Rohit has mostly spent his career fielding inside the 30-yard circle. The India captain is a safe fielder, but at 36, may not be a spring chicken as some of the younger players of the squad. As captain, Rohit was always either at mid-odd of covers, as it became easier for the captain to lay instructions or even just talk to the bowler. This time, that role was Hardik’s. But seeing Hardik give orders to Rohit – which is very normal for a captain – did not sit too well with some ardent Rohit fans.

MI’s first-match jinx continues

The collective efforts of MI’s ex and current captain almost got them over the line. Rohit played one of the smoothest IPL innings in a long time, scoring a brisk 43 off 29 balls including 7 fours and a six. His partnership off 77 with Brevis set the tone for MI in their chase of 169 but unfortunately, GT had the last laugh. They choked MI’s batting in the final five overs, giving away 36 as Mumbai’s middle-lower order felt the heat. Mohit Sharma’s chance of pace, coupled by Umesh’s experience meant that MI will have to wait another season to break their season opener hoodoo.

For GT, Sai Sudarshan top scored with 45 although it came off 39 balls. For MI, Jasprit Bumrah, playing his first match for the franchise since the end of the 2022 season, made a roaring comeback to finish with incredible figures of 3/14. He castled Wriddhiman Saha with a deadly yorker and foxed David Miller with a slower ball. Then again, nothing about Bumrah surprises anymore.