'Rohit Sharma could be given back the captaincy from Hardik Pandya': Mumbai Indians expected to take big call

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Rohit Sharma could be reappointed as the captain of Mumbai Indians (MI), former India batter Manoj Tiwary has said after the team's three consecutive defeat in the IPL 2024. He said that Hardik Pandya, the new Mumbai Indians captain, was under tremendous pressure.

The former Bengal captain pointed out that Hardik did not bowl under pace-friendly conditions at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Monday as he was under pressure. Notably, Hardik bowled in the first two matches for Mumbai Indians.

He leaked 30 runs without any wicket in three overs against Gujarat Titans (GT), and 46 runs for one wicket in four overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The star all-rounder bowled ahead of Jasprit Bumrah in both the matches and flaked a lot of criticism.

"It's a clue that Hardik is under pressure. If he is not bowling having bowled in the first 2 games, and in conditions where there was swing on offer in both first and second innings, I think he felt the pressure with the kind of reception he received. I want to say something big. I have this feeling that during this break, Rohit Sharma could be given back the captaincy from Hardik Pandya," Manoj Tiwary said on Cricbuzz.

"It can happen. It's a big call because whatever little I understand these franchises and owners, they don't hesitate in taking calls. They had started it when they took the captaincy from Rohit and gave it to Hardik. Now it's pretty big when you change a captain who has won you five titles. And now that they haven't won a single game and the captaincy also looks jaded. Mistakes are happening," he added.

Hardik Pandya should be sacked from captaincy on cricketing grounds: Manoj Tiwary

Manoj Tiwary also marked Hardik Pandya's captaincy as average. He said the bowling changes were bizarre, and no batter was having a fixed spot in the team. The 38-year-old said Hardik Pandya should be sacked from captaincy purely for cricketing reasons.

"In the last match, SRH scored 277, but look at the changes is bowling. Shams Mulani came to bowl the last over, Bumrah was brought in the 13th over, there is no stability in the batting order. No one has a permanent slot. Sometimes Tilak Varma goes to bat higher, sometimes Dewald Brevis. Romario comes in and someone else goes out. It's very average captaincy so I feel this call needs to be taken, purely based on a cricketing aspect. The atmosphere doesn't look right either," added Tiwary.