Hardik Pandya file photo©AFP
It has been a disappointing IPL 2024 campaign for Hardik Pandya so far, with the all-rounder facing heavy criticism both as a player and captain. Hardik ended Rohit Sharma’s 10-year tenure as captain of Mumbai Indians after completing a sensational trade with Gujarat Titans, but the move did not go down well with a section of the fan base. Things didn’t improve as MI won just three of the 10 matches and Hardik was booed even by the fans at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. After MI’s defeat against Lucknow Super Giants on Thursday, former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali said that it was mentality that led to MI’s downfall in IPL 2024 and added that Pandya’s performance has not been good.
Basit Ali also believes that Hardik was affected by the decision taken by the BCCI to continue with Rohit as the T20I captain after the 2023 Cricket World Cup. He feels that Hardik believed that he would become the T20 captain and his performance has been poor since the defeat of the Captaincy of India.
“Mumbai Indians lost another match but I think their mentality cost them dearly. The way Pandya was named captain before the start of the season, apart from Pandya’s performance, was also not up to the mark this year. fall,” said Basit Ali in his Youtube channel.
“After the culmination of the 50-year-old World Cup, Pandya thought he would be India’s T20 captain, and that’s why he came to Mumbai. But when the BCCI announced that Rohit Sharma will continue to lead India, Pandya was probably confused. That’s why his performance was affected. He has been very bad as a captain and only Rohit Sharma can help him,” concluded Ali.
MI needs to win all its matches and depend on other results to qualify for the IPL 2024 playoffs.
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