Yuzvendra Chahal treats Rohit Sharma like his elder brother therefore, it came as no surprise when he changed his X (formerly Twitter) profile picture to one with the India captain amid the controversy surrounding Mumbai Indians' captaincy change ahead of the next year's Indian Premier League (IPL).
MI's shocking move angers Rohit fans
Rohit was surprisingly replaced by MI as the captain with Hardik Pandya, who made a comeback to the franchise after leading Gujarat Titans for two seasons in 2022 and 2023.
MI brought him on board during the IPL trading window last month in an all-cash deal worth ₹15 crore from GT, where captain Pandya lifted the IPL title in their maiden season.
But the move to replace Rohit with Pandya as the skipper has not gone down too well with Indian cricket and MI fans. The franchise has lost lakhs of followers on social media after the move while some fans even took to streets to burn the team's blue jersey in anger.
Chahal shows support for 'Rohita'
Rohit's India teammate Chahal, who made his IPL debut with MI and played three seasons for the club from 2011 to 2013, also showed his support for the Hitman by putting a profile picture which shows him hugging his skipper during an international match.
Chahal fondly calls Rohit as "Rohita", a fact which he revealed on Gaurav Kapoor's chat show Breakfast With Champions.
Rohit replaced despite winning 6 titles for MI
The move to change leadership was all the more shocking because Mumbai Indians have won 5 IPL titles and the Champions League T20 trophy under Rohit's captaincy.
He was the first skipper to win 6 trophies with a franchise before being surpassed by Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni, who has won the IPL 5 times and CLT20 twice.
Pandya on the other hand, also proved his captaincy credentials by leading GT to victory in their first IPL season last year before finishing runners-up behind CSK this season.
