Indian Premier League (IPL) giants Mumbai Indians paid a fitting tribute to Rohit Sharma as he stepped down from his captaincy role on Friday (Dec 15). In a sensational announcement made by the franchise on Friday, Rohit was replaced by Hardik Pandya as the new skipper with the auctions for the new season around the corner. Rohit had a successful stint as the captain of the franchise and led them to five IPL titles and one Champions League title.

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MI’s tribute to Rohit Sharma

“Ro, In 2013 you took over as captain of MI. You asked us to believe. In victories & defeats, you asked us to smile. 10 years & 6 trophies later, here we are. Our forever captain, your legacy will be etched in Blue & Gold. Thank you, captain RO,” Mumbai Indians’ social media handle read.

The 35-year-old joined MI in 2011 when he was up for auction having been released by Deccan Charges. His move to MI proved to be one of the most successful stories in the history of IPL. Adding to his 2009 IPL success with Deccan, Rohit went on to win five more titles with the Mumbai-based franchise. He was the most decorated player in history with six titles until Ambati Rayudu joined him in 2023 with six titles.

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Rohit’s tenure as captain of MI

Rohit took over the captaincy reigns in 2013 from Ricky Ponting in the middle of the season and led the team to their first IPL title. He then led Mumbai to victories in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020, becoming the most successful captain in the history of the tournament. Later, MS Dhoni 2023 helped his team Chennai Super Kings bag the title for the fifth time and joined Rohit Sharma to achieve this feat.

Hardik will now have a tough task in taking the captaincy baton as he follows in the footsteps of Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Ricky Ponting. He, however, comes with a proven pedigree having led Gujarat Titans to back-to-back finals in 2022 and 2023 respectively. His first year saw him lead GT to the IPL title in their debut season and will now be tasked to repeat the achievement.

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