WATCH: Rohit Sharma's 360-degree Show in Mumbai Indians Nets Sets Social Media Ablaze

Rohit Sharma on Monday joined the Mumbai Indians camp ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, starting Friday. The 5-time champions will begin their campaign against Gujarat Giants which will be Hardik Pandya’s first assignment as the MI skipper, that too, against his previous franchise. Ahead of the opener, Rohit took the field with his teammates and sweated it out in the nets.

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The franchise shared a 30-second video on microblogging site X (former Twitter) in which the former captain was seen in red-hot form. Rohit smashed almost every ball, putting all his trademark shots on display like a 360-degree batter.

Earlier on Monday, Pandya addressed a pre-season press conference where he smartly dealt with the questions on Rohit. The former said his predecessor Rohit will continue to be a guiding force for him during the IPL despite the unexpected change of leadership that the franchise announced ahead of the upcoming season, triggering a ‘backlash’ from the fans.

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“It will not be any different, he will always be there to help me. You mentioned that he is the captain of the Indian team, which helps me because this team, what it has achieved, it has achieved under him

“…from now onwards, it is (about) what he has achieved, I just have to carry forward that,” Pandya said at a media interaction here.

“I don’t think it will be any awkward or any different. It will be a nice feeling because we have been playing for 10 years. I have played my whole career under him and he is going to have his hand on my shoulder throughout the season,” he added.

Pandya admitted his move of leaving the Gujarat Titans’ captaincy and replacing Rohit at the helm in Mumbai Indians did upset a section of fans.

“The backlash…To be very honest we respect fans but at the same time, we focus on the sport and what is required. I focus on the controllables and I do not focus on what I cannot control,” Pandya said.

Luke Wood replaces injured Jason Behrendorff

MI on Monday named Luke Wood as a replacement for the injured Jason Behrendorff for the upcoming season. Wood – a left-arm pacer – has played 5 T20Is for England, in addition to 2 ODIs, and has 8 T20I wickets against his name. Wood will join MI for INR 50 Lac.

Behrendorff suffered the injury when he was struck on the leg while batting in the nets at the WACA Ground last week before leaving for India.

“Unfortunately, there was a freak accident at training last week which resulted in my leg being broken. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, just a very unlucky incident,” Benhrendorff wrote on Instagram.

“I have loved being part of the MI Family and am absolutely gutted to be missing this year’s IPL … hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to be back next year,” he added.