Hardik Pandya’s Mumbai Indians failed to win their first match of Indian Premier League 2024 against Gujarat Titans. After coming back as the MI captain, Hardik Pandya failed to inspire his team to a win, failing both with bat and ball, and possibly as a captain as well. Hardik Pandya was criticized for starting with the ball instead of Jasprit Bumrah and then coming in too late in MI’s chase of 169 runs on Sunday, 24 March in Ahmedabad. The slump continued as Hardik Pandya’s MI lost their second match versus SunRisers Hyderabad.
Hardik Pandya ,the MI captain has not had a smooth start to his captaincy on his comeback to the franchise that made him a household name in the Indian cricketing scene. Hardik Pandya was asked about a ‘captaincy clause’ in his contract ahead of the season, a question that he ignored. Hardik Pandya too was criticized by fans on social media as well for the treatment of Rohit Sharma during the match.
Fans and Media lashes out at Hardik Pandya’s treatment to former MI and India skipper Rohit Sharma in the opener for MI
Captain Hardik Pandya took complete control of the proceedings in his first match as skipper of the Mumbai Indians even as the 5-time champions lost to Gujarat Titans in their IPL 2024 opener in Ahmedabad on Sunday, March 24. In a viral video, Hardik Pandya was seen commanding Rohit Sharma on the field as the former captain was moved around on the field during Gujarat Titans’ innings at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Rohit Sharma, who has been used to fielding inside the ring, was a little surprised when he was asked to field in the deep by newly-appointed captain Hardik Pandya. The Baroda all-rounder looked animated as he wanted to get his field placements right in the final over of the Gujarat Titans innings.
Hardik Pandya asked Rohit to go to near the boundary rope after the former captain was fielding inside the 30-yard circle. After Rohit took a position along the boundary, Hardik Pandya wanted his former captain to move to his right further as he made sure bowler Gerald Coetzee had the right man at the right areas.
A section of fans did not like what they saw as Rohit Sharma had to do the running in the final over of the Mumbai Indians’ contest. While it’s normal for a captain to use his best fielders at the right spots, emotional Rohit Sharma fans took to social media to lash out at Hardik Pandya.
In fact, Rohit Sharma took a catch in the deep in a rare sight as the former Mumbai Indians captain played the team man’s role to perfection. In the 8th over of the match, Rohit took Shubman Gill’s catch at long-on after Piyush Chawla tempted the Gujarat Titans to mistime a big shot.
It was not a happy homecoming for Hardik Pandya as the Mumbai Indians captain was booed by the Ahmedabad crowd at the toss. A large section of fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium were seemingly not happy with the Hardik’s trade from Mumbai to Gujarat. Notably, Hardik, who was first given the role of captain in the IPL by Gujarat Titans, led the team to title in 2022 and the final in 2023 before he made a shock trade move back to MI before last year’s auction.
Former English skipper Michael Vaughan slammed MI’s management decision to hand captaincy reign to Hardik Pandya ahead of Rohit Sharma for IPL 2024 season.
Removing Rohit Sharma as the skipper of MI one of the stranger moves in sport- Michael Vaughan
Mumbai Indians continue to face flak for removing Rohit Sharma from captaincy ahead of the Indian Premier League 2024. With the five-time champions failing in almost all the departments of the game under new captain Hardik Pandya. The fingers are being pointed out at the management and the owners of the franchise for their decision. Former England captain Michael Vaughan has lambasted the team for making one of the strangest decisions in sports.
He commented after Mumbai conceded 277 runs against SRH in just their second match of IPL 2024. Hardik looked clueless, and his move to open the bowling instead of Jasprit Bumrah was causing more problems. Jasprit Bumrah is the best fast bowler in world cricket at the moment, and he has won matches for his teams. His match-winning spell in the second Test against England is still fresh in the minds of former players and fans.
Jasprit Bumrah destroyed England on a track that had little for the pacers. On the other hand, Hardik is not using him with the new ball. The captain gave away 46 runs in 4 overs against Sunrisers and picked up just one wicket. Michael Vaughan, who opines on every matter related to cricket, took a firm stand against the Mumbai Indians.
“Removing Rohit as skipper of the @mipaltanis one of the stranger moves in sport .. Btw .. Henrich Klassen is some player .. He is right up there with great middle order strikers of a white ball .. #IPL2024,” Michael Vaughan wrote on X.
Mumbai were the under-achievers until Rohit joined them in 2011. He led them to five IPL titles and became the first team to achieve the landmark before Chennai Super Kings joined them in 2023. He is successfully leading India across formats in international cricket, and many felt that Mumbai should have allowed the veteran to continue for another season before giving the armband to Hardik Pandya.