Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh said that Mumbai Indians’ (MI) decision to bring back all-rounder Hardik Pandya to the franchise as captain backfired and the team did not play cohesively as a unit. The ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season has been one to remember for five-time champions MI. They brought Pandya back after a two-year stint with Gujarat Titans (GT), which involved winning the title in his debut season in 2022, but Rohit Sharma’s replacement as captain led to a massive backlash on social media for the versatile and the franchise. Pandya was booed in stadiums across India during his matches and the team finished bottom of the points table with four wins, 10 losses and eight points. Pandya, who played a crucial role in the franchise’s success from 2015 to 21, failed to deliver match-winning performances.
Speaking to ANI about MI’s decision to bring back Pandya, Harbhajan said the move backfired and led to lack of unity in the team. He also felt that this decision could have been made a year later. However, he said Hardik is not to blame.
“MI has a great team. I played in it. The management is great and manages the team well. But the plan backfired. Maybe the thought was to look to the future. It seems that it didn’t go down well with the team as they didn’t seem united , this was bound to happen. It pains me to see such a big team, an old team of mine, face such bad results. The decision was made a year later. of senior players is to keep the players together no matter who the team captain is,” Harbhajan told ANI.
In 14 matches, Pandya scored 216 runs at an average of 18.00 and a strike rate of 143.04, with a best score of 46. He also took 11 wickets at a low average of 35.18 and an economy rate of 10.75.
However, fans are hoping that Pandya emerges as a different player in India’s blue jersey when the ICC T20 World Cup begins in the West Indies and the USA from June 1. Given the all-rounder’s excellent track record in international white-ball cricket and tendency to bring his best game under pressure, vice-captain Pandya will be a crucial part of Rohit-led Team India’s campaign.
India are placed in Group A of the ICC tournament alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and co-hosts USA.
India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, followed by the marquee clash against Pakistan on June 9 at the same venue. India will face the USA and Canada on June 12 and 15 respectively.
India team: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh , Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj
Reservations: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
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