Rohit Sharma’s wife Ritika Sajdeh has voiced disagreement with Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher’s rationale behind replacing Rohit as captain with Hardik Pandya.
In a recent interview, Boucher stated that the leadership change was a “cricketing decision” to relieve Rohit of the pressure of captaincy. The aim was to allow Rohit to focus on his batting after two relatively quiet IPL seasons.
Reacting to this explanation, Ritika commented “So many things wrong with this” on an Instagram post about Boucher’s comments. She clearly took issue with MI’s reasoning behind handing the reins from her husband to Pandya.
Rohit had led the five-time champions since 2013, guiding them to all their title wins. But MI finished bottom of the table in 2022. Though Rohit scored over 300 runs in 2023, his strike rate was below his career average.
Boucher suggested the captaincy burden was affecting Rohit’s batting form. By removing this pressure, he could supposedly thrive again with the bat. But Ritika seemingly didn’t agree with this line of thinking.
Her blunt dismissal of Boucher’s rationale has sparked debate amongst fans online. Some feel MI were justified in freeing up Rohit as a specialist batsman. Others argued the team should have shown more faith in their long-time captain.
Rohit himself is yet to directly address losing the captaincy. But Ritika’s comments offer a hint at what the star opener might be feeling about the contentious decision.
It remains to be seen if this off-field disagreement affects the team atmosphere in IPL 2024. Pandya and Rohit share a close bond. MI will hope the two senior pros can put this episode behind them in pursuit of an elusive title.
With the IPL auction coming up, Mumbai will look to plug gaps in their lineup. But the captaincy question and Ritika’s veiled criticism of it could linger as an unwanted distraction.
