As MI fans search for the reason behind Rohit being replaced by Hardik as captain, former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has offered an explanation.

It's been four months since Mumbai Indians officially announced the switch from Hardik Pandya to Rohit Sharma as their captain. Following that, an auction occurred about a week later, and now we find ourselves halfway through the league stage of IPL 2024. However, the question of "Why did Mumbai Indians replace Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya?" still lingers among MI supporters. And can you blame them? After all, Rohit is the first captain to win five IPL titles. He's the franchise's leading run-scorer by a significant margin and has been instrumental in their IPL journey, especially after five disappointing seasons since 2008.

So, what prompted the change? Rohit was still performing well; he's still the captain of India in all formats. So, why? While MI fans grapple with this question, former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has provided an explanation. Uthappa suggests considering three perspectives to understand the situation fully: the franchise's perspective - MI, the viewpoint of Hardik Pandya, the new captain, and that of Rohit Sharma, the former skipper.

Uthappa said in the TRS podcast, "Hardik Pandya is their discovery. They did it through their scouting methods. So they are essentially looking at a pure Mumbai Indians boy. When captaincy was given to Rohit Sharma it was taken from Ricky Ponting in the middle of the season. This is the same franchise. All the senior guys Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, and Ricky Ponting supported Rohit,"

"In the last four years, statistically... I'm never gonna question the calibre and the gloriousness of Rohit Sharma the batter. But look at it from a franchise perspective. They won in 2020. They didn't win in the last three years. And the last three years, Rohit scored less than 300 runs (only once). So there's a lack of success as a batter, a lack of success as a captain. In just the IPL cause everywhere else, he has scored runs," Uthappa added.