‘Rohit Sharma will go to a franchise which treats him better than Mumbai Indians. The choice is his’: Ambati Rayudu

Mumbai Indians opener Rohit Sharma

Is Rohit Sharma about to leave Mumbai Indians? Is he already in talks with other franchises? The questions are plenty and never-ending. At the moment, there is nothing official about this but whispers are getting louder with each passing day. Rohit was replaced by Hardik Pandya as the MI captain ahead of IPL 2024, a move which hasn’t gone down well with a large section of MI fans and to a certain extent, even the majority of the cricketing fraternity in India.

Rohit, after all, is the first captain to win five IPL titles. He was at the forefront of MI’s turnaround in IPL and has led the franchise in 10 straight editions. He also is the first current India captain to play under somebody else in the history of IPL.

Naturally, with the mega auctions slated to take place before the next edition of the tournament, the speculations are ripe about Rohit’s move. Some media reports suggest that the franchises have requested more retentions than just three from the BCCI to maintain continuity but if that doesn’t happen then Rohit’s future in MI does look a bit uncertain.

There is no shortage of takers Rohit, at least if social media and experts are to be believed. There were reports even before the start of IPL 2024 about Rohit being in talks with the Delhi Capitals. Former India batter Ambati Rayudu had said that it would be nice to see the Indian captain retire wearing the yellow of Chennai Super Kings.

Then Lucknow Super Giants head coach Justin Langer was too made a tongue-in-cheek remark about getting Rohit on board.

With the speculations growing louder with each passing day, Rayudu has once again come up with a big statement on the MI great’s future. Rayudu, a former CSK and MI player himself, said the choice will be Rohit’s. The great opener would want to go to a franchise where he gets better treatment than what he has received in MI of late.

“It’s Rohit’s call at the end of the day wherever he would want to go, he can go. All the teams would love him and have him as a captain for sure. It’s Rohit’s call. I’m sure he’ll go to a franchise which treats him better than what has happened here (Mumbai Indians),” Rayudu said on Star Sports.

Rohit, MI’s all-time highest scorer, has scored 118 runs this year in 4 matches at a very impressive strike rate of 171.01. However, what MI would be hoping from their ace batter is a big knock that can help them revive their campaign which has gotten off to a bumpy start.

MI are languishing at the 8th spot in the points table with just one win in four matches. After losing three matches on the trot, They got the better of Delhi Capitals in a high-scoring match. MI will next face the Chennai Super Kings on Sunday at the Wankhede Stadium.

They would be hoping for a better show from their big guns, Rohit, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, who has just returned from an injury layoff, and captain Hardik.

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