Hardik Pandya | Source: X.com
Things aren’t going easy for Hardik Pandya as Mumbai Indians captain in the ongoing IPL 2024. He’s been under fire from pundits and fans alike ever since he took over the reins from the five time IPL winning captain Rohit Sharma.
During the recent clash between MI and CSK in IPL 2024, MS Dhoni took Pandya’s bowling to the cleaners. The former CSK skipper hammered him 20 runs off only 4 balls, which ended up being the difference between two sides as Mumbai lost the game by 20 runs.
Meanwhile, former English captain, Kevin Pietersen called out Hardik Pandya for not having a game plan against aggressive hitters. He slammed the MI skipper for lacking a backup plan when CSK’s batters were on a rampage.
Pietersen even hinted that the crowd’s booing is really getting under Pandya’s skin. He also added that Hardik is pretending to be happy on the outside, but there’s something really wrong going on inside him.
Here’s what Kevin Pietersen said in Star Sports:
“I actually think with Hardik Pandya everything away from the game is affecting him so much. He is smiling too much when he is at the toss. He acts like he is so happy. He is not happy. I’ve been there. I’ve been in the firing line as well.”
“It’s what happening to Hardik Pandya. It hurts him. Because he has emotion. He is an Indian player and doesn’t want to be treated like this. It’s affecting him. It’s affecting his cricket. And something needs to happen.”
Mumbai Indians have now faced their fourth defeat this season out of the six matches they have played so far. Sitting at the bottom half of the points table, it will be interesting to see how the five time champions bounce back from the recent setbacks.
