IPL 2024: 'Rohit Sharma Will Let Hardik Pandya Captain Mumbai Indians,' Says AB De Villiers

IPL 2024: Rohit Sharma will let Hardik Pandya lead the Mumbai Indians according to AB De Villiers.

Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma.

In response to rumors that Hardik Pandya is being traded from the Gujarat Titans to the Mumbai Indians, former South African and Royal Challengers Bangalore batter AB de Villers has commented. He thinks MI captain Rohit Sharma would give Hardik Pandya the captaincy if the rumored move goes through.

"I have a funny feeling Rohit is going to let him (Hardik) captain. Rohit carries a lot of pressure of captaining Team India. Maybe that is going to be the move," said De Villiers. (Ravindra Jadeja Teaches Sword Celebration To Wife Rivaba, CSK Shares Photo)

"It's a big news for Mumbai Indians. Hardik was a big player for Mumbai for many years. He loved playing at the Wankhede Stadium. He won the trophy with GT and then also went to the final of next season. He probably feels his time there is done," said De Villiers.

In other IPL news, Indian all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed is likely to represent Sunrisers Hyderabad in the upcoming season of Indian Premier League (IPL) next year while spin bowling all-rounder Mayank Dagar will be representing the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) next season.

As per ESPNCricinfo, both teams swapped players via a pre-auction trade. ('Mumbai Indians Have Struck Gold...,' R Ashwin's Reaction On Hardik Pandya's Transfer, Makes MI's Probable Playing XIs For IPL 2024)

Dagar, who represents Himachal Pradesh, played three games for SRH last year and was brought for Rs 1.8 crore before IPL 2023. He took just one wicket that season. Mayank has taken 55 wickets in 54 T20Is overall.

Shahbaz was secured for Rs 2.4 crore before IPL 2022. Shahbaz has scored 321 runs in 39 matches of his IPL career at an average of almost 17 while also taking 14 wickets. He has also played three ODIs and two ODIs for India. 2022 was Shahbaz's most prolific IPL season, in which he scored 219 runs in 16 matches at an average of over 27, with four wickets under his belt as well.

In 81 T20Is, Shahbaz has scored 834 runs at an average of 22.54, with two half-centuries and best score of 60*. He has also taken 54 wickets in the shortest format of the sport.

Both SRH and RCB will be heading into the new season with a new management. RCB, who narrowly missed out on playoffs by finishing sixth with seven wins in 14 matches, will be having Andy Flower as their new head coach. On the other hand, SRH will have New Zealand legend Daniel Vettori as their head coach, after finishing at the bottom last season with just four wins in 14 games. (With ANI inputs)