Former Indian all-rounder Ravi Shastri has put his weight behind Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya amid his criticism. After taking over the captaincy baton from Rohit Sharma, Pandya has been booed by the crowd in all three matches of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2024.
Pandya led Gujarat Titans to glory in IPL 2022 and also led the franchise to the final in the previous season but hasn’t been able to lead from the front so far in the ongoing edition. Pandya is averaging 23 with the bat and 76 with the ball and has conceded his runs at an economy rate of almost 11.
Furthermore, Pandya’s captaincy came under the scanner when he didn’t get Jasprit Bumrah into the attack against Sunrisers Hyderabad when Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head were going all guns blazing. However, Shastri wants Pandya to let his performances do the talking in the upcoming matches.
“You have supported the team over the years. In just 2-3 matches, they won’t be a bad team. They are 5-time champions, after all, they have a new captain. Just be patient, you know the bloke you’re getting after is a human being like you. At the end of the day, he has to sleep in the night. So just think about it, be calm,” said Shastri on Star Sports.
Sharing his advice for the all-rounder, Shastri said, “My thing to Hardik would be ‘calm, patient, ignore, and then just focus on your game’. You get a couple of performances going..they are a terrific side, if they win three to four matches, everything will subside. You will, things will change.”
The former Indian head coach said more clarity should have been given from the franchise’s end to avoid this hate among the fans.
“See, at the end of the day, this is not an Indian cricket team that is playing. This is franchise cricket. They have paid top dollar, they are the bosses. It’s their entitlement as to who they want as captain. Where I think this could have been handled better is more clarity in communication,” said Shastri.
“If you wanted as captain, say you’re looking at the future, looking to build, we are doing a fabulous job as every one knows and we want him to help out Hardik in the next 3 years when the team is in progress. That communication should have come out a little more for all this to die down. It’s not a case of you saying ‘we don’t want Rohit Sharma’, or he was treated badly,” he added.
Mumbai Indians will next take on Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday.
