In the world of sports where players excites viewers through their performances be it their Leadership skills or playing acrobats, it is evident that one should be able to move on and pass the baton to the new upcoming talent in line just like now Hardik Pandya is the leader of MI. Hardik Pandya‘s appointment has raised a lot of eye-brows around MI fans.
One such iconic franchise in the world of cricket especially in the extravagant leagues is Ambani led franchise MUMBAI INDIANS (MI).Right from the inception of IPL since 2008 till the upcoming auction on 19th December, Mumbai Indians has being unique in their style of acquisition and retaining of players. What amuses more from a viewer point is the ability and knack of Mumbai Indians to process and select a player and develop it into the product effective to represent their respective countries in the highest form of cricket.
Mumbai Indians and their style of developing new talents
Many such examples are seeing in Indian cricket itself be it Sachin Tendulkar to become its first captain or Robin Singh as its coaching staff. Keeping lesser known Rahul Sanghvi as a specialist to hunt down young talents or making use of International coaches like John Wright , Mahela Jayawardene or Shane bond as their mentoring staffs.
Mumbai Indians (MI) as a franchise over the years understood the need of growth for talent and this hunger led them to conspire a leader in Rohit Sharma whom they first bought in 2010 then nurtured him for next 3 years and in 2013 in the midway handed him the reigns of the team from ably capable Ricky Ponting only to go further and win the elusive IPL title that year.
The confidence and trust shown on Rohit Sharma as a captain was to the level that in the forthcoming years till 2023 Mumbai Indians had 4 more titles to their name and Rohit Sharma becoming the most successive captain of IPL history after Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
This vision of Mumbai Indians was not only limited with Rohit Sharma ,it went further and produced future superstars for India like Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya who was instrumental as a young talent winning Mumbai 4 of their 5 titles. Further the allrounder has tremendous success in the year 2022 leading his side Gujarat Titans(GT) to their maiden title in the first year of inception itself and again reaching finals in the 2023 IPL season thus creating a wide buzz when he decided to return to his old franchise ahead of 2024 season of IPL.
Hardik Pandya is a highly respected cricketer and a performer as an all-rounder- Tom Moody
Former Australian allrounder now turned commentator Tom Moody backed Hardik Pandya to have the full support of the entire squad in his upcoming stint as Mumbai Indian (MI) captain.
A dramatic off-season turnaround saw Hardik Pandya return to his former MI franchise in an -all-cash-trade deal with Gujarat Titans (GT) . The star all-rounder subsequently replaced Rohit Sharma as captain. While the move created quite an uproar , all eyes will be on Hardik Pandya as he sets to lead one of the most successful franchises .
Speaking on ESPNCricinfo, Tom Moody feels Hardik Pandya would be aided by having a solid squad and the support of all the players at his disposal :
“He has got a team that will back up and take away the pressure of inconsistent performances. He will have the support of the Indian and overseas players because he is a highly respected cricketer and a performer as an all-rounder,” said Tom Moody.
Yet, Moody has warned Hardik that the results of the first few games are crucial to help settle things down.
“But, captaincy can be a completely different game once you lose two or three games and suddenly they pick holes out of your leadership, they pick holes out of the decisions you make,” he added.
Hardik Pandya is no stranger to captaincy pressure, having led the Gujarat Titans admirably for two seasons in 2022 and 2023. The side won the title in their maiden IPL appearance in 2022 before suffering a last-ball finish in the finale last year to finish runners-up. Meanwhile ,Rohit Sharma has led MI for over a decade from the middle of 2013, helping them win five titles.
Hardik Pandya is tactically sound- Tom Moody
Tom Moody further called Hardik Pandya a tactically sound captain and expected him to have the full support of Indians and overseas senior players. The 30-year -old will lead a star-studded MI lineup featuring several Indian regulars like Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah , Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav.
“When you are winning, you can make the craziest decisions and still people build them up to being genius strokes. Hardik has the credentials as the Gujarat Titans leader, he is tactically sound and he will be supported by all the senior players, both Indian and overseas,” said Tom Moody.
Hardik Pandya also boasts experience captaining the Indian T20I side over the past two years, winning 10 in 16 matches. His MI captaincy stint will begin with a mouthwatering clash against his former team, Gujarat Titans, in Ahmedabad on March 24.