'Removed as MI captain to unburden his batting' - Has Rohit Sharma's batting really improved in IPL 2024?

The situation in the Mumbai Indians (MI) dressing room hasn’t really been ideal this season. The team has lost eight out of the twelve games that they have played. Controversy sparked even before the start of the season as Rohit Sharma got replaced as the captain of the franchise by the returning Hardik Pandya.

Talking to the press earlier in the season, MI coach Mark Boucher hinted that the decision to change captaincy by the franchise was taken while keeping Rohit’s poor form with the bat in the last couple of seasons and the idea was to ease the pressure from the former MI captain.

What did Mark Boucher say about removing Rohit as captain?

Talking to a South-Africa based podcast, ‘Banter with the boys’ Boucher said:

“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 a captain.”

“He probably hasn't had the best couple of seasons with the bat but he has done well as a captain and I just thought after talking to the whole Mumbai Indians group, thought maybe this is the opportunity for him to step in for his last year or so”

READ MORE: Has Rohit Sharma scored 500 runs in an IPL season?

Has Rohit Sharma’s performance really improved? 

There seems to be some truth to what Boucher has said, but the poor finish to the season and the ongoing turmoil seems to have affected Rohit’s performance as well. After being in contention for the orange cap at one point in the season, Rohit’s form has dipped massively in the last few games. After managing to score 297 in his first seven innings this season, the former captain has managed just 33 runs in his last five. 

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