Former England captain Eoin Morgan applauded the Mumbai Indians (MI) for being practical and replaced long-time captain Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya for IPL 2024. However, the decision to replace Rohit didn’t go down well with many MI fans, as the franchise lost more than half a million followers on social media as well. Many have expressed their anger, suggesting that Captain Rohit deserved a better farewell.

However, speaking to TOI, Eoin Morgan said, “If you look at the franchise itself, they have had a very forward-thinking, logic-driven and future-proof driven style of strategy for a long time. A decision like this reinforces that the franchise always comes first. You probably see this as being a tough decision that they’ve made hoping that the long-term benefits will see MI lifting another championships in the coming years. So, in a way, you’ve to admire the courage that it takes to make a decision like that because not every team would take that decision.”

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However, there has been a lot of talk about whether the Impact Player rule should be revoked in the IPL. While many said that it might affect the development of all-rounders, Eoin Morgan said that it only eliminates the massive differences between teams as well.

“I’ve sat in many selection meetings over the years and having all-rounders is an absolute privilege. But when you don’t have them available, it really does hamper selection because you’re always struggling to balance the side either with an extra batter or an extra bow.”Having a rule in place creates an even field across the whole tournament and allows teams to be more tactically savvy when it comes to playing against tougher opposition who might be stacked full of all-rounders,” Eoin Morgan concluded.