Rohit vs Hardik: RIP Conspiracy Theorists!

Rohit vs Hardik: RIP Conspiracy Theorists! (Image Source: Google)

There is something about cricket teams from the subcontinent, and the scribes who write about them, that provides fodder for conspiracy theories where none may exist. Reams of newsprint and digital footage get dedicated to imagined rivalries and manufactured enmities. Some part of this is natural. 

After all, managing cricket in India involves not just cricketers, support staff, sports associations, groundsmen, sponsors, broadcasters, and more. It also involves coping with the egos and sensitivities of players who are superstars and who have cult followings of their own. Sometimes that management can be tantamount to walking a tightrope, where the cost of slipping may be defeat and embarrassment at the international level. 

In the past, much has been written about the ego clashes between Merchant-Pataudi, Gavaskar-Kapil, Tendulkar-Dravid, Kohli-Rohit, to name a few. Some may have been real, several are purely imaginary – the creation of media persons who may have tried to make their dream career of Bollywood scriptwriting come true via cricket. 

But in recent times, a very public change of guard made extensive headlines. Hardik Pandya moved from the Gujarat Titans (GT), where he had a very successful stint – winning the IPL in the inaugural year of the Ahmedabad-based franchise – to the Mumbai Indians (MI). Apparently, his pre-condition was that he would be skipper. The team owner, Nita Ambani, seemed to have accepted. Rohit Sharma – a five time IPL winning captain, the most successful on par with Dhoni – was removed as captain and Pandya replaced him. 

The replacement of a vastly successful captain with someone from another state seemed to stun followers of Mumbai Indians. To outsiders, which included the watching army of scribes, sponsors and of course, the mass of audience, the brazen move smacked of a high degree of greed on the part of Pandya, and high-handedness of the team owners. 

The IPL season that followed was a disaster on and off the field, for both MI as well as Pandya. While the team crashed out, Pandya found himself being booed by MI’s cult followers at his home ground. Worse followed! Pandya had opened the bowling in the first IPL game but did not bowl in subsequent matches, causing eyebrows to be raised. Even the respected Kiwi, Simon Doull, mentioned that this was odd. The unstated suspicion was that Pandya was hiding an injury. 

The origin of the injury story was also rooted in facts. On October 19th last year, in an ODI world cup match against Bangladesh at Pune, Pandya was brought into the attack by skipper Rohit Sharma. Three balls later, Pandya had to leave the ground, injured. And just like that, his world cup was over. And the Indian team was left scrambling to cover up his absence as an all rounder. 

Question marks over his fitness followed. Following this injury, Pandya underwent a period of rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and the Kiran More Cricket Academy in his hometown of Vadodara, Gujarat. He remained absent from all forms of the game from the time of his injury to mid-March 2024. And then he was leading MI but holding back from bowling. The conspiracy theorists made hay!

And then came the bombshell announcement! On April 30th, the Ajit Agarkar led panel of selectors announced the Indian team for the T20 World Cup, to be played in the West Indies and USA. With Rohit Sharma as the captain and Hardik Pandya as vice-captain! Fans and former players were shocked. To some, such as Irfan Pathan, it seemed Pandya was being given preferential treatment. Commenting on Pandya’s selection, he said “That shouldn't happen because it sends the wrong message to the rest of the team. When they see one player receiving special treatment, it disrupts the team environment. Cricket isn't like tennis; it's a team sport where equality is vital. Every player should be treated fairly and equally…”

 

As recently as late May, Indians worried about how Rohit and Pandya would manage together – remember, reams had already been written about the meltdown of MI with the leadership switch and its aftermath. Others such as Harbhajan counselled the BCCI to bring the two talented players together to iron out differences. He commented on Pandya, “When he wears that blue jersey, he will be a different Hardik Pandya because we know he can score those runs and take those wickets…”

What happened at the World Cup is now cast in cricketing lore. In the death overs, with 26 needed off 24 balls, Hardik came back into the attack. He had bowled only one over earlier but this time he struck off his first ball of the 17th, removing Klassen who had looked to finish off the game with time to spare. Of course, much of the credit for this was to Bumrah who had built pressure in the previous over. 

And then came THAT famed last over. 16 needed off 6. With Dave Miller on strike! How many matches had he finished with success. Surely, 16 off the last over wasn’t too much for him. Rohit had a choice then – either the left arm orthodox of Ravindra Jadeja or the medium pace of Pandya. With Jadeja having gone for 12 off the only over he had bowled earlier and this clearly not being a game where the Indian spinners had shone, perhaps the skipper’s choice was made easier. Helped by the fact that a conventional left arm spinner would perhaps have been meat and drink for the left handed Miller. Pandya it was!

Of course, Mother Luck played a role. A BIG role! Had Surya Kumar Yadav not demonstrated exceptional presence of mind combined with athleticism, South Africa would have been faced with 10 off 5 balls with Miller still on strike. Except that with Kagiso Rabada at the crease, they still had to get 16, off just 5 balls. Rabada made two wild slashes outside off, the first going for a boundary and the second a clear miss, but they managed to run for a bye. 11 to get, off 3! And then Maharaj took a single – 10 to get, off just 2. Pandya had made it, bowling a tight line and not giving any room. Or had he?

The next one went wide. Touch of nerves? 9 to get, and 2 balls still in hand. No one was even dreaming about the much reported rift between Rohit and Pandya now, were they? Such imaginary rifts don’t come to mind when the world cup hangs in the balance. And the match wasn’t won yet. Two hoicks from the powerful Rabada could have ended India’s cup aspirations. Except that they didn’t happen. Rabada did try and hoist the next ball into the stands, but couldn’t clear the alert Surya. An impossible 9 to get off the last ball. Barring a no-ball, it was India’s game. And indeed, the cup did come home. 

In Indian cricket, jeers can turn to cheers very quickly. The team was brought home on a specially arranged aircraft, a meeting with the Prime Minister was followed by a rollicking bustop ride through Mumbai to a packed Wankhede. Where Rohit was quick to appreciate Pandya’s key role in the victory. Boos in IPL turned to chants of ‘Hardik, Hardik.’ It was a huge ‘homecoming’ moment to Pandya, but he would do well to remember that Indian public memory is notoriously short. Some media members writing accolades now had no compunction in widening their scrutiny to include his personal life too. As of now, let the memories be happy ones. 

Endnote

And what of the future? Rohit has retired from T20 at the international level, which means that Hardik Pandya is likely to be the next skipper for this format.

Rohit may well remain the ODI skipper for the moment, at least till the Champions Trophy scheduled for Feb-Mar next year. His carrying on till the 2027 World Cup, to be held in South Africa, looks a bit unlikely as of now – he will be forty that year. 

Whether Pandya is handed the ODI captaincy too after the Champions Trophy 2025 is a question only time will tell, and the answer may well lie in Pandya’s fitness in longer formats and his capacity to bowl more than four overs in a match. Don’t expect those conspiracy theorists to go away – the only thing that send them into hiding is victory and Pandya will know it well. 

Coming to the longest format, Pandya has not played a test since 2018. And it is entirely likely that in future, the Indian cricket captaincy will see a split between formats – and that’s perhaps a good thing, given the demanding schedule.

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Arjun Kumar is a cricket enthusiast with a passion for the game in its longest form, as well as a brand strategist. He tweets @HiddenHeritage