The head coach of fielders of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Jonty Rhodes, spoke about the uncertain future of Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma with Mumbai Indians alongside other rumours around it as IPL 2025 approaches. With a mega auction just around the corner, speculations about Rohit’s future in IPL remain rife with some claiming he could leave Mumbai Indians after an extended spell of successful partnership.
Despite having known each other personally during their stints at MI, Rhodes was an early admirer of Rohit’s glorious shots and batting style.
“I mean, for a long time at Mumbai Indians, I felt I had the best job in the world. I got to watch Rohit Sharma practice and play cricket. He is so elegant,” Rhodes told ANI.
But, even though he respects Rohit very much; Rhodes pointed out that attaining success does not require his presence at LSG or any other place else in IPL. While he acknowledges Rohit’s brilliance, he has stated that victory for the team cannot be associated with one particular player.
“I mean, there’s the balance of teams, who’s in the side. I love watching Rohit Sharma bat, but I’m not saying he must come in and replace, and then suddenly we change our setup. So whatever, as I said, whatever happens, whosoever is there, I’ll be doing my best to support,” he added.
Regarding Rohit’s possible move to LSG, Rhodes told News24 that any team would be happy to have the Indian captain.
“Rohit Sharma has experience, he has won titles. He will be welcome in any team that he walks into. We have a setup, I’m not privy to the decision-making that goes around owners and captains. That’s the head coach and the mentor’s role. From that point of view, wherever Rohit goes, if he goes, anybody will be happy to have him,” said Rhodes.
“He’s a good man. Having worked with him at MI, he brings real value in his captaincy and batting, and has a down-to-earth attitude which is so important in high pressure-cooker situations like the IPL is for 10 weeks.”
Apart from Rohit, KL Rahul who is the current captain of LSG is also being talked about with great anxiety. It was reported that he might have played his last game for the franchise after Sanjiv Goenka, the owner of this team, scolded him following their bad match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
However, he affirmed last week during a press conference where he announced Zaheer Khan as the new coach of the team that Rahul is part of LSG’s “family”. In response to questions concerning Rahul’s future plans, Rhodes managed to avoid affirming any position by just saying how pleased he was not to be making those retention decisions.
Goenka comments on Rohit-LSG speculations
Goenka was previously asked about selecting Rohit at the auction and gave a response similar to Rhodes.
“Do you even know if Rohit Sharma is entering the auction? This is all unnecessary. It all depends on whether Mumbai Indians release Rohit Sharma or not. And even if Rohit comes to auction… if you put 50 per cent of your purse on one player, how will you buy other play?” Goenka said.