Hardik Pandya’s captaincy stint for Mumbai Indians (MI) hasn’t got off to the best of starts in the ongoing IPL season.
The all-rounder completed a high-profile trade from Gujarat Titans (GT) to MI ahead of IPL 2024 and was appointed captain by the team management. He is succeeding Rohit Sharma, who led MI to five IPL titles in his 11-year stint as skipper.
Under Pandya’s captaincy, the five-time champions have lost four of their six games so far and they are holding the eighth spot in the 10-team points table.
On Sunday (April 14), MI suffered their fourth defeat of the season as they went down against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 20 runs at the Wankhede Stadium.
After the game, the performances of certain Mumbai players drew a massive backlash from the fans. However, MI’s batting coach Kieron Pollard was not interested in targeting any specific players and he backed skipper Hardik to come good.
“You’re going to have those days. I’m sick and fed up with just looking to pinpoint individuals. Cricket is a team sport at the end of the day,” Pollard said at the post-match press conference.
In particular, Hardik Pandya is facing severe criticism for not living up to the expectations with both bat and ball. Many of his decisions as captain have also been questioned by the cricket experts, including the legendary Sunil Gavaskar and Kevin Pietersen.
“He (Pandya) is a confident guy. He has been great around the group. In cricket, you have good days and you have bad days. I’m seeing an individual who’s working bloody hard to continue his skill and to ply his trade,” Pollard added.
The MI batting coach also mentioned that Hardik Pandya is likely to feature in India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup and the fans should cheer for him and want him to do well.
“This is an individual that’s going to represent the country in less than six weeks. We’re all going to be cheering for him and want him to do well,” Pollard stated.
“It’s about high time that we try to encourage and try to stop nitpick. See if we can get the best out of one of the great all-rounders India could ever produce,” he further remarked.
Pollard highlighted some of the best qualities of MI skipper and backed him to come back stronger from this lean patch.
“He can bat, he can bowl, he can field. He has an X factor about him. I hope very well deep down within my heart that when he comes out on top, I’ll sit back and I’ll watch everyone sing his praises,” he said.
“As an individual, you have to evolve as well. When you’re young and there’s that youthful exuberance, you go out and you do things in a certain manner. But the older that you get, at times, responsibility sort of kicks in, accountability to teams sort of kicks in,” he added.
“What I’m seeing is a guy that is evolving. We as individuals, want to see certain things, but sometimes the game does not demand certain things.”
In the final over of CSK’s innings, Hardik Pandya was taken to the cleaners by CSK wicketkeeper MS Dhoni, who smashed the all-rounder for three successive sixes to return with 20* off 4 balls, propelling CSK to a massive 206/4 in 20 overs.
“Yes, three sixes, 20 runs, some runs in the last over, but anyone could have gone for 20 runs in the last over as well. MS has been world-class for years upon years. We love to see him on the cricket field, walking out into stadiums. We’re all in awe of what he has accomplished,” Pollard commented.
Reflecting on the defeat, Pollard suggested that the side will do their homework and come back stronger as a team.
“The scoreline (20 runs), that’s the difference. But cricket is much more than what we see at the end. For us, it’s much deeper than that. We’re going to dissect and we have done before throughout the tournament and do our homework and try to come back better as a team,” he said.
Mumbai Indians’ next match is scheduled against Punjab Kings in Chandigarh on Thursday (April 18).
(With PTI Inputs)
