Reports; Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya unfollow each other on Instagram

Tension has reportedly been on the rise between Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma ever since the former's trade to Mumbai Indians (MI) from the Gujarat Titans. With Pandya's return, Rohit's ten-year run as the team captain has also come to an end as the talismanic all-rounder, who led the Titans to two consecutive IPL finals, has been named the caprain of the five-time champions.

In an unexpected turn of events, MI coach, Mark Boucher, recently explained the reasons for the captaincy change, but it drew harsh criticism. Ritika Sajdeh, Rohit's wife, also quashed the coach's comments, stating, "So many things wrong with this." Just days after this, the two cricket players have unfollowed one another on Instagram, according to reports that surfaced on social media.

Meanwhile, the reports are uncertain as several social media users offered different opinions. Certain 'X' users said that the two never followed each other on Instagram, but others claimed that it was Hardik who had stopped following Rohit.

Also read: MI head coach Mark Boucher remarks on Rohit Sharma's captaincy

Hardik Pandya's appointment was purely a cricketing decision: Mark Boucher

According to Mark Boucher, Pandya's selection as the Mumbai Indians captain was a strategic move by the management. He also said that although it was a cricketing decision, people should not get upset when Rohit Sharma lost the role. He went on to speak about Rohit, praising his leadership throughout his captaincy tenure. 

"I think it was purely a cricketing decision. We saw the window period to get Hardik back as a player. For me, it's a transition phase. A lot of people don't understand in India, people get quite emotional, but you know you take the emotions away from it. I think it's just more of a cricketing decision that was made and I do think it is going to bring the best out of Rohit as a person as a player. Just let him go out and enjoy and score some good runs," Boucher had said on the Smash Sports podcast.

"One thing I did pick up with Ro (Rohit) is that he is a fantastic guy. I mean he's been captaining for ages and he's done really well for Mumbai Indians. Now he also leads India as well. It is that he walks into a place and there's just cameras in it and he's so busy and he hasn't had probably the best couple of seasons of late with the bat but he's done well as a captain,” he added.