Relaxed Rohit Sharma eases himself into Wankhede gig

Walking into the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday didn't feel too different.

The venue was gearing up for its first match of IPL 2024. There was an air of busy chaos all around. Banners and billboards bearing names of stands and various sponsors were all being put up all along the periphery. Huge trucks were parked, ready to unload food and beverages for match day. The stadium's dull blue exterior had given way to the more vibrant blue of Mumbai Indians.

Once you passed security and got inside the compound, you saw pillars covered with huge placards of players - Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya… And the thing is, looking at the décor, there was no way someone not in the know would have guessed there has been a change in captaincy for Mumbai. Even the digital billboard inside the stadium - installed next to the big screens square of the strip - flashed a picture of Rohit standing with his hands on his hips.

Mumbai have built a fan-base - MI Paltan - that has backed the team to the hilt. But perhaps at no time before in IPL history have their fans felt as divided as when heading into IPL 2024. The transition was smooth when Mumbai had to move on from Sachin Tendulkar - both as a captain and a player - an icon for whom special cheers can still be heard around the Wankhede Stadium. But when Hardik was named captain heading into this season, replacing Rohit, the paltan struggled to come to grips with it. The result? Hardik was booed in their first two games this season in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad - both of which Mumbai lost.

So now the question that seems to be on everyone's lips is: how will the fans greet the five-time champions and their new captain on Monday, when they take on Rajasthan Royals.

On Sunday, Hardik - and Bumrah - was not at Mumbai's optional training session. Rohit was there but he did not bat. He has been in fair touch, with scores of 43 off 29 and 26 off 12 in the first two outings. So Sunday seemed more about interacting with players from both sides, and perhaps soaking in the feeling of a venue where he has grown up playing most of his cricket.

After Mumbai's nets started, he stood near the MCA Pavilion and spoke intently, at various points, to Dewald Brevis, Nehal Wadhera and Naman Dhir. Tim David and later Dhir had stints in the nets, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer from the Royals camp, all regularly depositing the ball into the vacant stands at the media end. None of the batting held Rohit's attention though.

He had a conversation with Piyush Chawla, while he waited for his turn to bat, and then head coach Mark Boucher too. The most significant training Rohit put himself through was ten minutes of sprinting near the square boundary below the Sunil Gavaskar Pavilion.

When Rohit met Royals' Sanju Samson and Yuzvendra Chahal, he sported a big grin. If there were tensions over the captaincy switch, they certainly were not visible. Rohit seemed as relaxed and focused as he is heading into any match - and the same could be said of the entire Mumbai contingent present.

How Hardik's reception will be when the fans get here is anybody's guess, but on match eve he found support in opposition pace spearhead Trent Boult.

"There are a lot of passionate fans in this country and speaking of Hardik, specifically, he is one of my favourite Indian cricketers and I do not think the booing will hold out for too long," Boult said at the pre-match press conference. "I am sure, he is one of those guys who can put it aside and focus on the job."

This season was supposed to be a homecoming for Hardik, who first rose to prominence with Mumbai in IPL 2015. But the road home has so far been anything but smooth. It goes without saying, a win on Sunday could go a long way in changing it all.