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The scene is quite dramatic these days in the Mumbai Indians camp. As the ground staff were busy preparing the playing conditions after unseasonal rain in Kolkata before their Saturday clash of IPL against the Kolkata Knight Riders, Rohit was seen coming out of the dressing room, spoke to the curator and took a back seat in the dug-out without no one around him. He has very little to share with his teammates. As the broadcaster painted a rosy picture of Rohit’s love affair with Eden Gardens for his sheer dominance with the bat at this venue, the man himself is unmoved. He seemed to be enjoying his own company.
Rohit is so disconnected from the Mumbai Indians that only he knows that his days are limited. How can anyone forget the contribution of captain Rohit, who was instrumental in making Mumbai become IPL champions on five occasions? Today, he is an Impact Player only for the Mumbai Indians.
At least, the leaked video suggested all is not well between Rohit and the Mumbai Indians. “Everything is changing one by one. It is on them. Whatever! But it is my home. It is the temple that I constructed,” Rohit said with simmering emotions while explaining his stature in Mumbai Indians to a state teammate and KKR support staff member.
But all hell broke loose when he announced: “Brother, this is my last anyway.”
That was it. Everyone was an expert, passing judgment that more is happening here than in the Lucknow Super Giants camp. The Sanjeev Goenka-KL Rahul episode is nothing in front of the Mumbai story. The handling of Rohit’s captaincy issue was as bad as BCCI handling Virat Kohli’s ODI captaincy snub issue. Both had one thing in common: Virat and Rohit were removed from captaincy unceremoniously.
There is more than meets the eye. The inside story had to come out one day, and it is coming out gradually.
Rohit making such a big statement that this would be his last means what? Does it mean he is over with Mumbai? Or is Rohit retiring from IPL after this season?
And why? Did Rohit refuse to toe the line of the Mumbai Indians management? Was Rohit told to leave the MI captaincy and even offered money to quit captaincy, which he didn’t on his own? Did Rohit undermine new captain Hardik? Is Rohit still to come to terms with the fact that he is just a Mumbai player, not a captain? Is Rohit playing games to undermine the Mumbai camp? ‘Whatever’ the storyline is, there is no smoke without fire!
