Is this the final goodbye? Rohit Sharma’s cryptic post on X (the erstwhile Twitter) has sparked speculation. The post is a collage of pictures, capturing MI fans and the team. It came two days after MI played their final game in this year’s IPL.
Close on its heels, came another post in which the former MI captain hit out at the IPL’s host broadcaster Star Sports for being “intrusive”.
“The lives of cricketers have become so intrusive that cameras are now recording every step and conversation we are having in privacy with our friends and colleagues, at training or on match days,” he wrote on X.
“Despite asking Star Sports to not record my conversation, it was and was also then played on air, which is a breach of privacy. The need to get exclusive content and focused only on views and engagement will one day break the trust between the fans, cricketers and cricket. Let better sense prevail,” he added.
The lives of cricketers have become so intrusive that cameras are now recording every step and conversation we are having in privacy with our friends and colleagues, at training or on match days.
Despite asking Star Sports to not record my conversation, it was and was also then…
— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) May 19, 2024
This was a season of upheaval for MI. Rohit, who led the franchise to five IPL titles, was stripped of captaincy ahead of the season, with Hardik Pandya replacing him. The latter’s bedding in period was tough – MI winning just four matches and losing 10 to finish at the foot of the table.
To a large section of MI fans and even in the dressing room, Rohit remained a leader. He also finished as the team’s highest run-scorer, with 417 runs from 14 matches at a strike-rate of 150. Pandya, on the other hand, struggled.
But the franchise, it is learnt, has retained faith in Pandya and will go to the 2025 mega auction under his captaincy. It wants to build for the future. And there’s a feeling that Rohit might move on.
After MI’s final game, the team’s head coach Mark Boucher was asked about Rohit’s future. “For me, he is a master of his own destiny. It’s a big auction next season, who knows what is going to happen,” Boucher said.
RevSportz understands that one franchise is very keen to have a word with Rohit, as it has begun its search for a new skipper. The India captain at the moment, however, is focusing on the upcoming T20 World Cup.