"Having Rohit to guide the next generation important for us": Jayawardene
He gave the leadership to someone else and made sure Mumbai Indians were going in the right direction
ANI
Rohit Sharma with Mahela Jayawardene (Photo- MI)
MUMBAI: Mumbai Indians (MI) Global Head of Cricket said that having former skipper Rohit Sharma in the team to guide the next generation is very important and it was a tough decision to transition from Rohit to a returning Hardik Pandya. Mumbai Indians (MI), the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, announced on Friday that star all-rounder Hardik Pandya will be leading the team in the 2024 edition of the league.
"Hardik (Pandya) has been in the dressing room for quite some time, so that's nothing new. We know what he brings in as an all-rounder. It will be something different with his experience of leading the team at Gujarat pretty well, so it is an opportunity to build on that," said Mahela to JioCinema as quoted by Mumbai Indians website.
Talking about Rohit Sharma being around in the team without his captaincy, Mahela said, "Having Ro (Rohit Sharma) in the team, on and off the field to guide the next generation is very important for us. He has been absolutely brilliant. I have worked very closely with Ro. He is a fabulous individual and I am sure he will be part of the legacy who will guide that through. Mumbai have had that in the past too with Sachin (Tendulkar), who played with the youngsters.
He gave the leadership to someone else and made sure Mumbai Indians were going in the right direction. It's the same thing. We had this conversation and everyone is buying into that, so, it's for us to look forward to the next season." Talking about the captaincy transition, Mahela said that the decision was tough and emotional.
"This is something we have spoken about as a franchise. It is a tough decision, we had to make them. It is emotional, it is tough, to be honest. But everyone who has been part of Mumbai know we cherish every moment a player has contributed, and will contribute going forward. The legacy is something we want to build on and make sure we keep fighting for those wins, those trophies. As a good unit, we have the skillset to do it. That's the focus going ahead. Probably everyone in their eyes will think it is too soon, but it is a decision we had to make at some point," said the former Sri Lankan great.
