Strong speculation is that Rohit Sharma will leave Mumbai Indians (MI). Sanjay Bangar, the former batting coach of the Indian cricket team (senior men), spoke about the possibility of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) bidding for the India captain.
Bangar spoke on the YouTube podcast titled The Rao Podcast (TRP). It was the first episode of the show hosted by Pritish Rao.
Rao started the discussion on IPL by referring to Hardik Pandya becoming the captain of the Mumbai Indians (MI). This decision caused a stir because of Rohit Sharma’s well-known success with the team. Rohit, as an MI captain, has won five IPL championships with them, so the decision sparked much media speculation and debate.
Some rumours even suggest that Rohit may leave the IPL franchise owned by Reliance Industries to join another team in the upcoming season, the host said. Since Bangar is the head of cricket development at PBKS, the host left the floor open for possibilities.
Bangar said things would depend on the player retention rule, which was still under consideration. Once there is clarity on which players are retained and which are released, it will be known who enters the auction and which teams are interested in specific players, he said.
Then, the host became more direct and asked Bangar if PBKS would be interested in Rohit if he became a part of the auctions.
“It all depends on whether we have the money in our pockets or not because, if Rohit comes into the auction, I certainly believe that he is going to go for a very high price,” Bangar said with a smile.
Meanwhile, there has been a high search for “IPL” on Google in the past day. Take a look:
Rohit Sharma’s retirement from T20I cricket
After leading India to the successful T20 World Cup 2024, Rohit Sharma declared retirement from T20I cricket. His announcement was followed by another legend of the game, Virat Kohli, announcing the same.
So, for batting icons like Rohit and Virat, IPL will apparently become more important as it is their only chance to play T20 cricket.