5 Reasons why IPL 2024 could be Rohit Sharma’s last?

Rohit Sharma, the Indian cricket superstar, has been an institution at Mumbai Indians for more than a decade in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 36-year-old has led MI to their first five IPL titles during his illustrious captaincy tenure, cementing his legacy among the greatest captains in the franchise T20 tournament history. But, in a major decision, Mumbai Indians relieved Rohit Sharma from captaincy duties, giving the reins to Hardik Pandya in his place. Since then, speculations have been running rampant about the future of Rohit Sharma, not just with MI, but also in the IPL. That’s why, SportsTiger looks at five reasons why IPL 2024 could be Rohit Sharma’s last. Lingering distrust after removal from captaincy After Mumbai Indians didn’t win the IPL title in the last three seasons, the team management took a tough decision of removing their long-standing captain Rohit Sharma from his role in a big surprise. Although there is some cricketing merit in appointing Hardik Pandya as the new MI captain after he led GT to two straight IPL finals in the last two seasons, the decision might have created a lingering distrust between the team management and Rohit Sharma, which could prompt him to leave the team and the tournament altogether in 2025. #PAGE_BREAK# Lack of consistent scores in recent IPLs During the last two seasons of the IPL, the batting form of Rohit Sharma was way below his lofty standards of the years gone by. In his last 30 appearances for MI, their former captain scored just 600 runs at an average and strike rate of around 20 and 125, which is going to put him under a lot of pressure to deliver the goods in the IPL 2024, especially after the responsibility of captaincy has been taken away from him. #PAGE_BREAK#Workload Management Rohit Sharma, the captain of the Indian cricket team, is playing regular cricket in all formats of the game, which is a very tough responsibility to fulfill at the best of times, especially after he didn’t take the field due to a stiff back on Day 3 of the fifth and final Test of the home series against England. Furthermore, Rohit Sharma is going to be 37 years old next month during the IPL 2024, a franchise T20 tournament known to be adding to the workload of cricketers, which could force a hand in terms of his decision to leave it the next season. #PAGE_BREAK# Mumbai Indians releasing him before the IPL 2025 mega auction According to the IPL Chairman, Arun Dhumal, IPL is set to have a mega auction before 2025 commences, which will ring in wholesale changes, not just in MI, but all the franchise teams in the tournament. It is well established that Mumbai Indians have looked away from Rohit Sharma in regards to the captaincy role, and it could well be the case in terms of his spot in the team next, with the team management plotting to release him from his contract before the upcoming IPL 2025 mega auction. #PAGE_BREAK# Potential retirement announcement before IPL 2025 The burden of responsibilities in international cricket, coupled with the IPL, could lead to Rohit Sharma taking a drastic decision to retire from the sport altogether. If Rohit Sharma announces his retirement before the IPL 2025, then he will not be playing in the franchise T20 tournament after being one of the most dominant forces in it, since the very beginning.