Big statement of the veteran player about Hardik Pandya's return to Mumbai Indians, said- Now Rohit Sharma...

South African legend AB de Villiers believes Hardik Pandya's move from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2024 retention is rife as the all-rounder may have felt his time at the newly-minted franchise is up. De Villiers also predicted Hardik's future captaincy in Mumbai, with Rohit Sharma taking on the responsibility of captaining India across all formats. Speculations have been rife over the past few months that Hardik Pandya might return to Mumbai, where he started his IPL career in 2015.

From an uncapped player, Hardik became an important player for the Mumbai team as a fast bowler all-rounder, earning the India Cap in all formats and being a member of their IPL title-winning seasons in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. He was released by Mumbai ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction and became the captain of the Gujarat franchise, which led them to champions in their first season in 2022, player of the match in the final against Rajasthan Royals and runners-up in 2023.

Will Rohit hand over the captaincy to Hardik?

AB de Villiers said, "I don't know if it's going to be a bit of a headache as to who will be the captain, I mean, Rohit is the captain and he likes to step up and lead." This is exciting because he (Hardik) was a big player for Mumbai Indians for several years, he loved playing at the Wankhede Stadium. He won the trophy with Gujarat Titans and then reached the final (of the 2023 season).

De Villiers said on his YouTube channel that he hopes his time is up and he will now return to Mumbai Indians. I find it strange that Rohit will let him (Hardik) captain and take the reins in his own hands, because there is a lot of pressure on Rohit to captain Team India, maybe this will be the decision, but let's see what happens.