Former IPL winner with Chennai Super Kings Suresh Raina believes that Indian captain Rohit Sharma is the captain of the 10 franchises that will participate in the 2024 edition of IPL. Even if the 36-year-old is not the captain of Mumbai Indians this season, Raina has stated that Rohit will keep an eye on all the homegrown players in the tournament. And that is because he will be building a strong Indian team for the ICC T20 World Cup in June.
As we all know, Rohit Sharma will lead the Men in Blue in the WC T20 starting June 1 onwards. Hon’ble BCCI Secretary Jay Shah made this announcement himself on the eve of the fourth match of India’s five-match Test series against England at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot.
Suresh Raina says Rohit Sharma’s huge fan base will follow him wherever he goes
Suresh Raina, while speaking to Jio Cinema at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, which is hosting the first match of IPL 2024 between CSK and RCB, highlighted Rohit Sharma’s huge fan base. Raina claimed that his army of fans will follow his lead wherever he goes in this edition, be it the iconic Wankhede Stadium or anywhere else in the country.
The three-time IPL winner also backed Rohit Sharma to have a successful edition of IPL 2024 for MI, highlighting the fact that he is in sensational form at the moment. Raina also praised Rohit for the way he led the Indian team to that wonderful 4-1 victory in the Test series against England last month.
“When Rohit Sharma goes to Wankhede or anywhere (in the country), his army of fans is very strong and the mentality with which he is playing at the moment, the way he led the Indian team to the series victory against England,” Suresh Raina said via Cine Jio.
Raina then spoke about the kind of importance he will have in this year’s IPL, stating that even if he is not the captain of the Mumbai Indians, he is technically the captain of all the teams. And that is solely due to the fact that Rohit Sharma will be the one to pick the players for the 10 IPL teams for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup starting June 1 in the US and West Indies.
“And he knows that 2 months later he will have to select the team for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 from the 10 IPL teams only, so he is basically the captain of the 10 teams right now. So we cannot say that he is not the captain,” Raina concluded.
Suresh Raina on captain Rohit Sharma pic.twitter.com/8OALjnpjsK
— Dishant (@Dishant_45) March 22, 2024
IPL 2024 schedule for first 21 matches
Match Date Team 1 Team 2 Venue/Stadium 1 March 22 Chennai Super Kings Royal Challengers Bangalore Chennai 2 March 23 Punjab Kings Delhi Capitals Mohali 3 March 23 Kolkata Knight Riders Sunrisers Hyderabad Kolkata 4 March 24 Rajasthan Royals Lucknow Super Giants Jaipur 5 March 24 Gujarat Titans Mumbai Indians Ahmedabad March 6 25 Royal Challengers Bangalore Punjab Kings Bengaluru March 7 26 Chennai Super Kings Gujarat Titans Chennai 8 March 27 Sunrisers Hyderabad Mumbai Indians Hyderabad 9 March 28 Rajasthan Royals Capitals Delhi Jaipur 10 March 29 Royal Challengers Bangalore Kolkata Knight Riders Bengaluru 11 March 30 Lucknow Super Giants Punjab Kings Lucknow 12 March 31 Gujarat Titans Sunrisers Hyderabad Ahmedabad March 13 31 Delhi Capitals Chennai Super Kings Visakhapatnam 14 April 1 Mumbai Indians Rajasthan Royals Mumbai April 15 2 Royal Challengers Bangalore Lucknow Super Giants Bengaluru April 16 3 Delhi Capitals Kolkata Knight Riders Visakhapatnam 17 April 4 Gujarat Titans Punjab Kings Ahmedabad 18 April 5 Sunrisers Hyderabad Chennai Super Kings Hyderabad 19 April 6 Rajasthan Royals Royal Challengers Bangalore Jaipur April 20 7 Mumbai Indians Delhi Capitals Mumbai 21 April 7 Lucknow Super Giants Gujarat Titans Lucknow