IPL 2027: Rohit Sharma likely to return as Mumbai Indians captain
The Mumbai Indians captaincy debate has gathered momentum ahead of the IPL 2027 auction. According to reports, MI franchise are expected to handover captaincy to Rohit Sharma for IPL 2027. However, Rohit Sharma had suggested Tilak Varma’s name for the captaincy, but the franchise intends to entrust the leadership back to Rohit for the upcoming season. However, this is yet to be officially confirmed.
“Rohit initially had suggested Tilak Varma’s name but the franchise has requested him to take over captaincy which he has now agreed. There were series of talks that had happened before him flying to New Zealand and Rohit suggestions were seeked during appointment of new coaches as well,” source said.
It is understood that during the previous season—as the franchise struggled consistently—the team management considered taking the captaincy away from Hardik Pandya and handing it back to Rohit. At that time, the franchise had also contemplated moving on from Hardik. Under Hardik’s captaincy, the team won only 4 out of 14 matches and finished at the bottom of the table.
Tilak Varma is currently the vice-captain of the Indian T20I team, and there are high expectations regarding his potential for leadership in the future.
These developments suggest that Hardik could soon be traded to another franchise. Alternatively, if that does not happen, it would imply that Hardik is ready to play under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy.
Mumbai Indians have also recently unveiled their new coaching staff. Kieron Pollard has been appointed as the team’s new coach, replacing Mahela Jaywardena. Robin Uthappa will serve as the batting coach. He was also a part of Mumbai Indians in 2008 as a player. Dhawal Kulkarni and Mitchell McClenaghan have been brought on as bowling coach and bowling consultant, respectively, and T. Dilip has been named the fielding coach. The deadline for IPL player retentions and trades is November 15, and the situation is expected to become clearer in the coming days.
