IPL 2024: Rohit Sharma moving to CSK? Rayudu's remark creates huge buzz

Amid growing suspense over possibility of Rohit Sharma playing under Hardik Pandya’s captaincy for Mumbai Indians (MI), former Indian batter Ambati Rayudu has said that he would love to see Rohit play for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the near future.

“Rohit can still go on for another 5-6 years and having achieved everything that there is for MI – winning the title five times, the prospect of him playing for CSK sounds too exciting,” said Rayudu in an interview with News24. However, when asked whether Rohit should lead CSK if MS Dhoni retires after this season, Rayudu said it should be entirely Rohit’s call. “Rohit can play for another 5-6 years. I want to see him in CSK going forward. If he has to captain, he can do it anywhere in the world. But it’s up to him. He has played so many years for MI and won them titles. So if he goes there, why not,” he added.

Backs Rohit

Rayudu, the former MI and CSK batter, came out in support of Rohit and said that MI probably rushed into making the captaincy switch. “Rohit should have continued captaining this year and Hardik, maybe after a year, could have been given that responsibility. Rohit is still captaining India in T2OIs. I personally feel that MI rushed into this decision but probably they know best. So, it will be difficult. Gujarat Titans had a different set-up. Captaining MI is not easy because there are so many star players in the team. There is too much pressure and not everyone can handle it,” Rayudu said.

Rohit will not be leading Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024, starting March 22 as the 5-time champions appointed Pandya as the skipper of the franchise. Hardik was traded to Mumbai Indians from Gujarat Titans in a historic trade deal after the mini-auction in December. Hardik, who led Gujarat Titans to the title in 2022, was given the captain’s armband by the franchise, contending that they needed to prepare for the transition period and that Rohit would continue to play a key role for the team in the upcoming season.

Public backlash

MI had announced in December last year that Pandya will be taking over the reign, bringing an end to Rohit’s decade-long tenure as the man in charge, a move which was met with a strong wave of public backlash as fans slammed the franchise's call and wished to see their beloved Rohit back as captain.

The entire issue took an interesting turn when Rohit’s wife Ritika Sajdeh commented, “So many things wrong with this”, to MI head coach Mark Boucher’s statement that the call was made because captaincy was taking a toll on Rohit's batting and MI wanted to see him back flourishing as a batter. Apart from it, there was the whole transition reason too. Rohit is yet to speak about it publicly.