Rohit Sharma likely to become Mumbai Indians’ captain for IPL 2027: Reports

The five-time champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Mumbai Indians, are likely to hand over the leadership to Rohit Sharma for the upcoming IPL season in 2027, as reports from the Indian Express have claimed. The decision has come after a few tough seasons for the side under Hardik Pandya.  

Mumbai has also gone through a complete revamp in their support staff over the past week. It has been learnt that they wanted Rohit Sharma to take over the leadership from Hardik midway through the previous IPL when the side was struggling. As per the previous reports, they have already made up their mind to move on from Hardik.

Rohit Sharma set to replace Hardik Pandya as MI captain? What the reports say

Under Hardik Pandya, the franchise lost 10 games out of 14, finishing ninth and extending their title drought to six years. There were options of Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav for the role inside the team, while Tilak Varma could be the option for the future. 

“Rohit initially had suggested Tilak Varma’s name, but the franchise has requested him to take over captaincy, which he has now agreed to. There were a series of talks that had happened before he flew to New Zealand, and Rohit’s suggestions were sought during appointment of new coaches as well.” The reports of the Indian Express addressed.

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“This is speculation. Until we finish the trade window and retention, we will not decide this. And why do you say for one season? He’s still playing and will keep playing for MI till he wants to play.” The report added.

Rohit is the most successful captain of the Mumbai franchise in the IPL with 91 victories in 163 clashes at a win-loss ratio of 1.33.

MI coaching set-up for IPL 2027: Kieron Pollard appointed as new head coach

Mumbai have already appointed Kieron Pollard as their new head coach for the IPL 2026 season, replacing Mahela Jayawardene. Robin Uthappa, Mitchell McClenaghan, and Dhawal Kulkarni also return to the franchise they had once represented in the competition.

India's Uthappa has been appointed as the batting coach of the side, while the New Zealand pacer McClenaghan will take over from Lasith Malinga as the new bowling coach. T Dilip has been named the fielding coach, while Kulkarni will be their new development bowling coach.

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This will be the first coaching stint of all these three players. Dilip, meanwhile, was part of India’s two T20 World Cup-winning campaigns in 2024 and 2026.