Rohit Sharma is set to join Virat Kohli in RCB (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) in IPL 2025, as former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif suggested that the RCB officials must be in contact with Rohit and convince India’s T20 World Cup-winning captain to jump ship from Mumbai Indians.
Rohit Sharma was shockingly removed as captain by Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2024, as they named Hardik Pandya their new captain. Hardik Pandya was traded in from Gujarat Titans and the fans were mightily unhappy with MI’s decision.
Rohit Sharma broke MI’s drought of IPL titles in 2013 and went on to win a total of five titles for the franchise. However, the way he was treated by the MI management left a bad taste in the mouth of the player and his followers.
And now that BCCI has unveiled the regulations for the upcoming IPL mega auction with a major twist about the retention slabs for the players and the use of Right-To-Match cards.
This means MI will have to play lots of mental games to confirm their retention. As the first three players will be retained for INR 18 Cr, INR 14 Cr, and INR 11 Cr, the 4th and 5th retentions will also happen at INR 18 Cr and INR 14 Cr.
A total of 6 retentions can be made by one franchise in combination of retentions and RTM cards.
“RCB should take that chance with Rohit Sharma”- Mohammad Kaif
Mohammad Kaif, a former India cricketer, told Star Sports that Rohit should only play as captain in the IPL. With MI unable to offer that job, the ex-India batter wishes Rohit to quit the franchise.
“Rohit Sharma should only play as a captain. He is such a big player and recently led India to T20 World Cup win. He will surely have offers. I know because people must have been ringing him up with offers. But I feel he should only take up the captaincy role in whichever franchise he goes. And Rohit Sharma should leave. He has just 2-3 years left in his IPL career, and those years should be spent as a captain because of what he can do on the field; very few people have that ability,” Kaif said.
Amid rumors that Rohit and MI will part ways ahead of the November auction, Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings emerged as the two most likely destinations for the T20 World Cup-winning captain.
However, Kaif favored Royal Challengers Bengaluru to win the race and asked the franchise to persuade Rohit to head their team in the IPL 2025. The seasoned Indian believed that Rohit’s inclusion to the RCB side would finally end their long-standing IPL trophy drought.
“RCB should take that chance, 100 per cent, by hook or by crook, they must convince him to take up captaincy. Rohit knows very well how to form an XI so RCB will have the advantage if he is picked and probably their trophy drought could also end,” he added.
RCB were led by Faf du Plessis in the last three IPL seasons and they made it into the playoffs twice. There are also speculations that RCB might ask Virat Kohli to once again take over the role since he stepped down from leadership in 2021.
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