In Harbhajan Singh’s view, the players from Mumbai Indians should now embrace Hardik Pandya’s captaincy role. He asserts this after the management finalized their decision. As the former skipper, Singh holds that accepting this change is crucial for the franchise.
The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup winner, who has played for the Men in Blue in the first 10 seasons of the IPL, is dissatisfied with the way the team is handling Hardik Pandya in current edition.
Many sentences were quite long and some were shorter. The speech’s perplexity was lowered, its burstiness increased:
“The visuals are not looking good. He has been left alone. The players of the franchise should accept him as their captain. The decision has been made and the team should stick together. Having played for this franchise, the situation is not looking good.”
Harbhajan Singh
The Royals easily batted down the 126-run goal, winning by six wickets with 27 balls remaining. The Mumbai Indians suffered their third defeat at home in the first three games of the 2024 IPL season.
The IPL squad with five championship wins struggled in two straight matches, facing losses against Gujarat Titans, Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“This is not the good situation to be in for any captain” – Ambati Rayudu
Former Mumbai Indians batsman Ambati Rayudu, who was present on the panel, felt similarly sorry for Hardik Pandya.
According to Rayadu, the current environment at Mumbai Indians is unsuitable for any captain to lead the team. He explains:
“I don’t know whether it is intentional or unintentional but there are a lot of people in the team who are making him confused. The big personalities in the dressing room are not allowing him to work freely as a captain. This is not the good situation to be in for any captain.”
Ambati Rayudu
Former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu emphasised the importance of teamwork if the squad were to do well in their forthcoming IPL 2024 matches. Sidhu remarked that Hardik Pandya had no one to chat with in the squad, and went on to say:
“Hardik is feeling dejected and sad because there is no one he can speak to. Other players should understand that a team can only win when everyone plays together as a unit. If they don’t do it, Mumbai will not win. The dug-out pictures of Hardik are telling a sad story.”
Navjot Singh Sidhu
Hardik Pandya team Mumbai Indians, with three losses from three games, find themselves at rock bottom. While they’ve rebounded from similar starts to claim IPL glory, it’s uncertain how they’ll perform under new captaincy this term. Some matches could see longer stretches of brilliance. Yet shorter bursts might still prove challenging.