'Having Rohit to guide next generation important': MI global head Jayawardene

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 in IPL 2024Mumbai Indians MI the fivetime Indian Premier League IPL champions announced on Friday that star allrounder Hardik Pandya will be leading the team in the upcoming edition of the league IPL 2024Hardik Pandya has been in the dressing room for quite some time so thats nothing new We know what he brings in as an allrounder 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 websiteTalking 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 Its the same thing We had this conversation and everyone is buying into that so its for us to look forward to the next seasonAlso ReadTime to reset as Mumbai Indians enter transitionTalking about the captaincy transition Mahela said that the decision was tough and emotionalThis 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 Thats 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 greatMahela said that it is fair for fans to express their reactions to the changeI think everyone is emotional and we have to respect that as well But at the same time as a franchise you have to make those decisions he concludedIn November this year Pandya moved from Gujarat Titans GT to his former franchise Mumbai Indians MI after a trade between both franchises The allrounder spent two momentous years with GT spearheading their campaign with aplomb In GTs debut season in 2022 Hardik ensured a fairytale start with the team lifting the coveted trophy while they finished runnersup in their second season after a lastball defeat in a thrilling final earlier this yearPandya has big shoes to fill as the new skipper of MI as Rohit has led the franchise to five IPL title winsIn 31 matches for GT from 202223 Pandya scored 833 runs at an average of 3786 and a strike rate of over 133 with six halfcenturies and a best score of 87 He also had 11 wickets for the team with the best figures of 317Pandya also played 92 matches for MI from 20152021 scoring 1476 runs at an average of 2733 at a strike rate of over 153 with four halfcenturies and best score of 91 He also took 42 wickets for the team with the best bowling figures of 320Pandya has won five IPL trophies four with MI 2015 2017 2019 2020 and GT 2022With agency inputs