The IPL auctions are all about selecting new players to represent a specific franchise, and the event in Dubai on December 19 was no exception. All the ten teams spent a jaw-dropping ₹230.45 crore, with 72 players being selected. Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins earned a combined sum of over ₹45 crore of the total while several uncapped Indians made big splashes.
Mumbai Indians owner Akash Ambani was also in Dubai to take part in the auction. During the commercial break, a Mumbai Indians fan, to convey a message to the Mumbai Indians owner, shouted in a video that Mumbai Indians uploaded on their X handle: “Rohit Sharma ko wapis lao,”(Bring Rohit Sharma back as captain), to which Ambani gave a six-word reply, ‘Chinta mat karo. Woh batting karega’ (Don’t worry, he will bat), which is going viral on social media.
The post has amassed 283.3K views, 2.8K likes, 1.9K comments and 657 retweets.
However, no video of the incident is available, the encounter was confirmed by the Mumbai Indians’ official X handle on December 19.
The reaction of the fans stems from Mumbai Indians’ decision to appoint Hardik Pandya as the new captain of the franchise in place of Rohit Sharma, who has won five titles as captain in the last 11 seasons. Hadik, who made his IPL debut with the Mumbai Indians in 2015 after joining them for ₹10 lakh in the IPL 2015 auction, won four IPL titles under Rohit’s leadership. But in 2022, he joined the Gujarat Titans after not being retained by the Mumbai Indians. But in 2022, he joined the Gujarat Titans after not being retained by the Mumbai Indians. As per reports the star India all-rounder returned to the franchise following a deal in which Hardik insisted on captaincy and MI agreed.
Rohit, who joined MI during the 2011 auction for ₹9.2 crore after representing the Deccan Chargers in the first three editions, was appointed as the captain in the 2013 season after Ricky Ponting left the role due to his poor form with the bat.
Rohit turned the season by leading Mumbai Indians to their first-ever IPL title. He won his second IPL as captain of MI in 2015, third in 2017, fourth in 2019, and fifth in 2020. Under his leadership, the Mumbai Indians played in the second qualifier of the IPL 2023 but failed to qualify for the final. Rohit was replaced by Hardik Pandya as captain of Mumbai Indians last week.
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Published: 21 Dec 2023, 07:09 PM IST
