The capricious all-rounder, following a woeful & controversial IPL as the Pandya new captain of Mumbai Indians needs to put recent troubles behind him and elevate his performance level in T20 World Cup…..
Will Hardik Pandya find himself riding the wave or down in the valley of his rollercoaster career at the world cup? Currently, Team India’s handling of the Pandya situation is being done with utmost care. Rohit Sharma, coach Rahul Dravid will be looking to maximise on one of India’s most influential T20 players and only genuine seam-bowling all-rounder among their ranks.
Pandya is also second-in-command to captain, another contentious appointment that seems enshrouded in innuendos much like anything else associated with the cricketer presently. It is not that Pandya has nothing to show for it. Even though he has been battling with injuries under his grade A status since 2018; he remains in this very list of BCCI’s central contracts. Since hurting an ankle during the ODI World Cup late last year, left Pandya only taking part in IPL such that everything should have started revolving around preparing for fitness campaign towards that big occasion.
Instead, it seems like his whole world is falling apart around him.
Pandya’s private life, as well as his public persona has been under heavy scrutiny these recent times such that breaking point was just around the corner. This is a peculiar twist of events for one of the most flamboyant, gripping and emotional cricketers ever to be produced by India , who exhibits unmatched talent and sheer burning ambition.
Since making a splash with Mumbai Indians in 2015, Pandya has never been shy about showing off his swag; something that can land him into trouble with some people. They may laugh at his extravagant ways but Pandya deserves all the fun he wants because he had tough growing up years. Anything else is foreign to him. His approach to life has always been that way.
This has also got him into trouble on certain occasions like when he was suspended due to some ill-advised comments made during a TV show. Nevertheless, one could say that this current collapse within Mumbai Indians camp and the hostility from fans have actually caused great concern among cricket lovers worldwide. Across different stadia however it was fans’ fury against Hardik Pandya when he left Gujarat Titans and overthrew Rohit Sharma who was much loved Mumbai Indians skipper.
On another note though, one would ask whether Hardik’s public antics were what triggered this?
In other words, IPL’s eccentric fan-loyalties are at their worst here even as they condemn Pandya publicly in stadiums across India
In addition, the optics may be ignore by management altogether. Even CSK has been through such a transition before and nothing was said about it. In the auction process, Cricketers move from one club and into another without any noise in the background. To their followers, this exchange of MI captaincy was like a midnight coup.
From its inception, the appointment as MI captain looked set for disaster. Through enigmatic social media postings there have been indications that some members of the team including Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah – four players from the MI setup were unhappy with their omission. It might have seemed to Rohit Sharma even (who had just made an astonishing return to India’s captainship during T20 World Cup) that he had been caught off guard.
Many former cricketers believed that Pandya was merely going through motions and pretending throughout that ill-fated campaign; they said his leadership style was confusing. According to Kevin Pietersen “Pandya is always smiling too much” yet “trying to act like he’s happy” yet “everything away from cricket is affecting him so much.” According to Graeme Smith MI are a “highly confuse team.”
Perhaps Pandya felt like he was India’s most hated cricketer ever. It could be moments when he lost direction.
Following loss to CSK, Pandya referred Dhoni being on opposition side saying There is a man behind stumps who tells them what is working”. This prompted Adam Gilchrist to comment: That line about Dhoni is interesting … it suggests maybe Pandya feels a bit of lone wolf out there.”
AB de Villiers spoke highly of Pandya but added “his captaincy style has quite bravado in it. It’s ego-driven, chest out”.
It may also be that Pandya was too abrasive for Mumbai Indians although it may have worked at Gujarat Titans. There were also rumors of a possible dressing room showdown between Tilak Varma and DC’s Axar Patel. The MI coach Mark Boucher eventually confessed that all this may have “clouded” Pandya.
About Pandya’s selection, All the chief selector Ajit Agarkar would say is that “The good part we have looked at is that he has got through all the games so far for MI”.
However, this does not answer if Pandya is in the right mind frame to perform at his peak in a tournament like this? The ongoing social-media trial against him by angry spectators has also made it hard for him to perform well during the World Cup.
“We’ve seen better days but seen worse days as well. I don’t think these things surprise me anymore,” said Pandya while being honest for once.
Hardik Pandya is one player who never gives up. “On national duty” was what he wrote in his first post after joining up with India’s squad in America.
For instance, there were allege flare-ups between captain and vice-captain before during a T20 World Cup involving India back in 2009 when Dhoni took all members of the team before media just to deny speculations of rift within it.
This time, both Rohit and Dravid may help sweep away any remaining bitterness. The world cup needs Pandya to come through for Team India. He was their best batsman when they lost in the semifinal to England at Adelaide 2022.
