IPL 2026: Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya congratulated former team captain Rohit Sharma on completing 15 years with the franchise. Hardik gave a heart touching speech in the dressing room. In his speech, Hardik described Rohit as the biggest inspiration for MI players.
Rohit Sharma is very friendly and open-minded – Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya said in a video shared by MI on social media, “Thank you for leading this franchise for so many years. I debuted, Bumrah did, many of us debuted under your leadership. Thank you for inspiring so many people who have come to play for this franchise, and at the same time for India. You have been amazing and wonderful as a person too. You have been very friendly and open-minded. Thank you very much for the way you have led the team from the front for so many years.”
On completing 15 years with Mumbai Indians, Rohit expressed heartfelt thanks to his teammates, support staff and the franchise management, and credited the team environment for shaping his journey as captain in another video posted by the franchise.
Under his captaincy, Rohit made MI the most successful franchise of the league. On this he said that these successes were the result of the hard work of the team rather than the ability of any one person. The support of the franchise and its stakeholders played an important role in my growth as a captain and as a person.
Rohit also thanked the franchise ownership, and acknowledged their role in supporting him during an important phase of his career.
Started IPL career with Deccan Chargers
In 2008, Rohit Sharma started his IPL career with Deccan Chargers. He stayed with this team till 2010. He joined Mumbai Indians in IPL 2011 and remains a part of this team till now. MI made Rohit the captain in 2013. He remained the captain of this team till 2023. In ten years of captaincy, Rohit made Mumbai the champion of IPL 5 times (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020). Apart from CSK, MI is the only second team to win 5 IPL titles.
Rohit is the most successful batsman of Mumbai Indians. He has scored 6,267 runs in 235 innings of 239 matches, scoring 2 centuries and 41 half-centuries.