Rohit Sharmaon Monday (April 1), returned to the Wankhede Stadium for the first time since being replaced by Hardik Pandya as team captain.

In December last year, Mumbai Indians announced the appointment of Pandya as team captain. He ended Rohit Sharma’s long tenure as team captain. The right-handed batsman led the team from 2013 to 2023 and guided them to a record five IPL titles.

On Monday, he returned to the iconic venue to play an IPL match as a non-captain for the first time since 2013. However, he seemed in good spirits before the start of the match against Rajasthan Royals as he shared a warm moment with his former teammate from the Mumbai Indians and India, Harbhajan Singh.

The former India player plies his trade as a commentator in the ongoing tournament. Rohit Sharma was practicing on the field while Harbhajan Singh was busy with commentary duties. In a video that went viral on social media, Rohit and Harbhajan could be seen walking towards each other before the former grabbed the latter for a hug. Rohit also met and greeted Mohammad Kaif and Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Watch Rohit Sharma and Harbhajan Singh’s touching moment:

😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/L48aBdH2ut

-ananya (@d4ylightsq) April 1, 2024

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma did not fare well with the bat in the game and was run out for a golden duck in the first over. He edged a Trent Boult delivery behind the stumps where Sanju Samson took a good catch. Talking about the game, the Royals restricted the Mumbai Indians to 125/9.

Trent Boult swept Mumbai’s top spot by dismissing Rohit, Naman Dhir and Dewald Brevis for golden ducks. Nandre Burger also dismissed Ishan Kishan cheaply to leave Mumbai reeling at 20 for 4 before a 56-run stand between Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma steadied the ship. However, the duo could not lead their team to a strong position.