IPL 2024: Ritika Sajdeh’s comment on an Insta post sparks controversy as MI Head Coach reveals reason for sacking Rohit Sharma as captain

There have been a lot of talks and rumours among fans after Mumbai Indians (MI) appointed Hardik Pandya as their skipper for the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) by replacing the five-time title winning captain Rohit Sharma. MI bought back Pandya ahead of the IPL 2024 auction on a trade with Gujarat Titans for ₹15 Crore. After a few days of Pandya’s homecoming in MI, the franchise took to social media to announce that the Indian all-rounder will also be their skipper in the upcoming season of the cash–rich league. 

The fans weren’t happy with MI’s decision of replacing Rohit, who led the franchise to five IPL titles. Between that, Rohit also made his comeback in the Indian T20I squad after 14 months for the series against Afghanistan in January 2024, making fans believe that he will be leading the Indian team in the 2024 T20 World Cup in West Indies and the USA. 

Now, Rohit’s wife Ritika Sajdeh sparked controversy again after she commented on an Insta post where MI’s Head Coach revealed the reason for replacing Rohit and announcing Pandya as the skipper. In an interview with Smash Sports, Boucher revealed that picking Haridk Pandya as the skipper was a ‘cricketing decision’. He later stated that this decision has been made to bring out the best from Rohit as a batsman as he hasn’t been in good touch in the last few seasons in the IPL. 

A short clip from the interview was uploaded on the insta page of Smash Sports, where Boucher can be seen giving these statements. Commenting under the Insta post, Ritika wrote “So many things wrong with this…” Her comment has been raising so many speculations among fans regarding the whole MI captaincy saga. 

Previously, Ritika also commented with a ‘Yellow Heart’ emoji on a post by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Instagram where they gave tribute to Rohit for his stint as MI captain from 2013 to 2023. 

“I think it was purely a cricketing decision. We saw the window period to get Hardik back as a player. For me it’s a transition phase. A lot of people don’t understand in India, people get quite emotional, but you know you take the emotions away from it,” Mark Boucher said in a Podcast.

“I think it’s just more of a cricketing decision that was made, and I do think it is going to bring the best out of Rohit as a person as a player. Just let him go out and enjoy and score some good runs,” Boucher said earlier on Smash Sports podcast,” he further stated. 

However, a few hours after Ritika’s comment, the post was deleted from the Smash Sports insta page