Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has put his weight behind Hardik Pandya amid his criticism. Pandya has been slammed by a lot of cricket boffins for his mundane performance in the Indian Premier League 2024 while leading Mumbai Indians.
The all-rounder could not bring his best and failed to lead from the front. Pandya could only manage 200 runs in 12 innings at an average of 18.18 and a strike rate of 144.92. Furthermore, Pandya could only pick 11 wickets in 11 innings at an average of 32.72 and a high economy rate of 10.58.
Thus, Pandya could not deliver for Mumbai Indians as the team became the first side to be knocked out of IPL 2024 playoffs race.
Gambhir has backed Pandya to shine in the T20 World Cup as there will be no captaincy pressure on his shoulders.
“T20 is a format where if you score 25 off 10 or take two back-to-back wickets, everything comes back. Plus, there will be no pressure of captaincy on Hardik Pandya at the T20 World Cup. So, he can be even more free. It is very easy to say sitting in an AC room that he hasn’t performed well,” he said on Sportskeeda Match ki Baat.
The former World Cup winning batter said that Pandya would have faced a similar criticism even if he had scored 500 runs as MI didn’t get the desired results.
“There are a lot of factors involved in a player performing well. There is the pressure of captaincy and the team’s performance. Even if he had scored 500 runs, he would have still been criticised for MI’s position in the points table.”
Gambhir backed Pandya to deliver in the upcoming T20 World Cup for the national team.
“I think as a professional sportsman, when you go to play international cricket, there is always going to be pressure, especially in World Cups. Very few players get the opportunity to play a World Cup for their country. The kind of player Hardik Pandya is, there’s no doubt that he could do well. Ups and downs are part and parcel of the game,” Gambhir remarked.
India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland on June 5.
