"So many things wrong with this" - Rohit Sharma's wife Ritika Sajdeh on Mark Boucher's explanation for MI captaincy change
In a cryptic comment on an Instagram post, Ritika Sajdeh, Rohit Sharma's wife said there were "so many things wrong" with head coach Mark Boucher's explanation of why Mumbai Indians (MI) decided to give Hardik Pandya the captaincy for IPL 2024.
Speaking on the Smash Sports podcast, a clip of which was released on Monday, Boucher stated that the decision was made to free Rohit from the burden of captaincy so he could enjoy his batting in the coming seasons.
“I think it was purely a cricketing decision," Boucher said. "We saw the window period to get Hardik back as a player. For me, it’s a transition phase. A lot of people don’t understand in India, people get quite emotional But you know you take the emotions away from it."
"I think it’s just more of a cricketing decision that was made and I do think it is going to bring the best out of Rohit as a person as a player. Just let him go out and enjoy and score some good runs," he added.
"One thing I did pick up with Ro (Rohit) is that he is a fantastic guy. I mean he’s been captaining for ages and he’s done really well for Mumbai Indians. Now he also leads India as well. It is that he walks into a place and there’s just cameras in it and he’s so busy and he hasn’t had probably the best couple of seasons of late with the bat but he’s done well as a captain," Boucher stated.
Ritika Sajdeh quickly responded to the comments, expressing skepticism at Boucher's reasoning.
"So many things wrong with this," Ritika wrote as a comment on the post.
Although Rohit is the most successful captain in IPL history with five titles, he hasn’t had a 30-plus average or a 135-plus strike rate in a season since 2016.
“He is a Mumbai Indians boy” - Mark Boucher on Hardik Pandya replacing Rohit Sharma
In the same interview, Mark Boucher also praised Hardik Pandya’s leadership skills, saying:
"He is a Mumbai Indians boy. He went to other franchise, won the title in first year, ended up runner-up in his second year. So there’s obviously some very good leadership skills as well."
IPL 2024 will reportedly begin on March 23.