Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh who was part of the Mumbai Indians for 10 years spoke on the team’s poor performance in the IPL 2024 season. The former cricketer also added that team management’s decision to make Hardik Pandya captain backfired.
The five-time IPL champions failed to make an impact this season and finished bottom of the points table with just four wins from 14 matches.
While speaking to news agency ANI, Singh said, “I have played with Mumbai Indians for 10 years. The team management is great but this decision has backfired them. The management was thinking about the future while making Hardik Pandya the Captain but this did not set with the team.”
He also added that the timing of making Pandya the captain might not have been appropriate and could have been delayed by a year.
“When the team was playing, it seemed as if the Captain was playing differently and the entire team was different. I think the timing (of making Pandya the captain) was not right. Maybe this could have been done after a year.”
Backing Pandya, Harbhajan said, “It is not Hardik Pandya’s fault since he was the captain of Gujarat Titans as well. The team did not play collectively and the senior players should have made sure the team is united and it remains the same…”
Ahead of the IPL season 2024, the MI management removed Rohit Sharma as captain and handed the captaincy to Hardik Pandya, who was brought in from Gujarat Titans. Rohit who had captained the MI Team from 2013 to 2023 had helped the franchise lift the five IPL trophies. On the other hand, Hardik Pandya too had a very successful stint as captain of Gujarat Titans which lifted the IPL trophy in 2022. Making Pandya as MI captain did not well with the fans. The new captain was being questioned for his on-field decisions and was also being booed at stadiums.
(With inputs from ANI)
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Published: 21 May 2024, 10:33 AM IST