[In Pictures] "Safari time"- Rohit Sharma sports a smile while posing with his wife and daughter in South Africa
Team India captain Rohit Sharma recently posed for an endearing picture with his wife, Ritika Sajdeh, and daughter, Samiara Sharma, during his time off in South Africa. He is currently in the African nation to lead the Indian Test team in the upcoming two-match Test series.
The series will commence on Boxing Day in Centurion. It will be the first time Rohit Sharma will return to the field after the heartbreaking loss in the 2023 World Cup final against Australia on November 19. He missed the T20I series against Australia and the white-ball leg of South Africa after the World Cup.
In Rohit's absence, Suryakumar Yadav led the T20I side earlier this month, as the three-match series was tied 1-1. Meanwhile, KL Rahul is leading the ODI side during the ongoing three-match series against South Africa, which is tied at 1-1 after two games.
Rohit Sharma took to his official Instagram handle and shared a picture on his story to give fans a glimpse of his time away from the field. He captioned:
"Safari time."
The Indian captain was also recently spotted spending some time with fielding coach Dilip and teammate Shubman Gill.
"Having Rohit Sharma on and off the field to guide the next generation is very important"- Mahela Jayawardene
Mumbai Indians (MI) Global Head of Cricket Mahela Jayawardene recently shed light on their thought process behind replacing Rohit with Hardik Pandya as the captain for IPL 2024. He revealed that they were looking to reset the team and make the transition towards the future. Jayawardene said:
"We are trying to reset ourselves and that's a decision we had to make at some point. Everyone is emotional and we have to respect that. Having Rohit Sharma on and off the field to guide the next generation is very important. Mumbai has that respect. Even with Sachin, he gave the captaincy and played with youngsters. I'm very excited and I'm sure the fans will be too."
He added:
"He (Hardik) will bring what he brings as an all-rounder. It'll be something different - with his experience in Gujarat while he led the team very well. As franchise, even though it's some tough and emotional decisions we have made. We will keep fighting for those wins and trophies. We have a good skillset to do that."
Do you think MI took the right call regarding the captaincy change? Let us know your views in the comments section.