Though the chatter in cricketing circles has been about Rohit Sharma possibly returning to the leadership role, with Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah as other contenders, MI have made it clear that they will not rush into a decision. Five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) said they will take their time to pick a new captain for the 2027 Indian Premier League (IPL) season after trading their last two seasons’ captain, Hardik Pandya, to Punjab Kings on Wednesday and bringing in left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh in return. The swap leaves the five-time champions without a leader for the first time since Hardik took charge in 2024.
“As Mumbai Indians look ahead to the upcoming season, the franchise will take a considered approach to evaluating its captaincy options. Hardik’s exit marks the end of a long and eventful association with MI. He first arrived at MI as a raw youngster in 2015 and developed into one of the leading all-rounders in the cricketing world in the shortest format. He played a major role in four of MI’s title-winning campaigns before leaving, and returned from Gujarat Titans (GT), whom he led to the IPL 2022 win, in 2024 to take over as captain.
An announcement regarding the team’s captaincy will be made at the appropriate time,” said the side in its statement.
