Rohit Sharma promotes Suryakumar Yadav to top order
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MI bought Suryakumar Yadav for INR 3.20 crores during the 2018 auction. Before that Surya played for KKR in the middle order. But in MI, the right-hander was given the task of opening the innings which worked wonders.
Although MI failed to qualify for the knockout stages, yet Suryakumar ended with 512 runs at an average of 36.57. With Suryakumar as an opener, skipper Rohit Sharma had to downgrade himself to the middle order.
This selfless act however affected Rohit as his form went downhill. He managed only 286 runs at an average of 23.83 from 14 games. At the end of the season, Rohit finished as the 23rd in the leading run-scorers of IPL 2018.
Ricky Ponting gave up captaincy in the middle of IPL 2013
After playing just four games for KKR in 2008, Ponting came to play in IPL in 2013. He was bought by MI for INR 2.12 crores and replaced Harbhajan Singh as the skipper. However Ponting wasn’t at his best as he scored just 52 runs at 10.40.
As a result Ponting made a selfless act by stepping down and allowing Rohit Sharma as the skipper. The move was so successful that MI went on to win the title for the first time. Even Rohit had an extraordinary season where he scored 538 runs.
Rohit later proved everyone that he wasn’t a one-season wonder. Under his captaincy, MI became the most successful team in the history of the IPL. They went on to win the trophy thrice later in 2015, 2017 and 2019. On the other hand Ponting became MI’s head coach in 2014.