We wanted to take captaincy pressure off Rohit, he adds value as batter: MI head coach Boucher
Cape Town, Feb 6: Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher has revealed that Rohit Sharma's removal from the team's captaincy was a tough decision meant to free him as a batter given that he did not have a great run in the past couple of seasons.
The Reliance-owned franchise, in the most talked about one-way 'all-cash trade' in the IPL history, bought back all-rounder Hardik Pandya after his successful two-year stint with Gujarat Titans. The team subsequently named him the skipper replacing Rohit, who led the side to five IPL titles.
"We saw a window to get Hardik back as a player," Boucher told South Africa-based podcast 'Banter with The Boys'.
"We still want him (Rohit) as a player, absolutely because we know he has some great value to add and just go out there and actually enjoy it, without the hype of being the captain," he said.
"He probably hasn't had the best couple of seasons with the bat but he has done well as captain and I just thought after speaking with whole Mumbai Indians group, we thought may be this is an opportunity for him to step in for his last year or so," the coach added.
While the hype around an Indian skipper will still be there but Boucher expects Rohit to operate more freely with the bat.
"He will still captain India so that hype is going to be there but when he steps into the IPL, may be take that extra bit of pressure off him as captain and may be we get the best out of Rohit Sharma...," he hoped.
"...playing with nice smile on his face and spending time with beautiful family that he has got, there's no easy way to do it," he said.
Boucher said Rohit's busy schedule also puts pressure on Indian captain.
"One thing I picked up with Roh (nickname) is that he is a fantastic guy and he has been captaining for ages and he has been doing really well and not just for MI but for India as well, he walks into a place and there are cameras on him and he is so busy," Boucher said.
Rohit enjoys a massive fan base in social media and Boucher urged fans to understand his removal was a cricketing decision.
"A lot of people don't understand this in India and people get quite emotional about it...it is more of a cricketing decision that was made...it will bring the best out of Rohit as a person and a player and let him just go out there enjoy and score some good runs."
On Pandya's return, Boucher said that the Baroda man has shown admirable leadership skills for Gujarat Titans in the past two editions.
"He is a Mumbai Indians boy and he won his first year as captain and came runner up in the second year, so there's obviously some very good leadership skills," he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Delhi court sentences CBI joint director to 3 months' imprisonment in IRS officer assault case
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has sentenced two CBI officers to three months' imprisonment for assaulting and trespassing into the residence of an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer during a raid over two decades ago.
Judicial Magistrate Shashank Nandan Bhatt was hearing the arguments on the sentence against the convicted retired police officer V K Pandey and Ramneesh, who was serving as a superintendent of police when the raid was conducted in 2000.
Ramneesh is at present a joint director at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The court also fined Rs 50,000 each to both the accused.
Both were accused under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 427 (mischief) and 448 (criminal trespass) in a complaint filed by IRS officer Ashok Kumar Aggarwal.
The case pertained to an incident on October 19, 2000, when a CBI team carried out a search and arrest operation at Aggarwal's residence in Paschim Vihar.
Aggarwal alleged that the officials forcibly entered his house in the early hours, assaulted him and violated legal procedures during the arrest.
#WATCH | Delhi | Former IRS officer assault case. | Tis Hazari Court sentenced CBI joint director Ramneesh and Retired ACP Vivek Pandey to 3 months sentence in an assault case filed by former IRS officer Ashok Agarwal. The court has granted them bail to challenge the judgment.… https://t.co/RwAxjMrWDK pic.twitter.com/2FlkG4rDs0
— ANI (@ANI) April 28, 2026
