Hardik Pandya has been grabbing headlines, albeit for the wrong reasons, since he took over the captaincy of Mumbai Indians (MI) from Rohit Sharma. Now, a certain comment by the MI skipper has attracted a reaction from Adam Gilchrist.
After losing to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on April 14, Pandya said, “Pathirana was the difference. They were smart with the plans and their approach. They got the hang of it, there’s a man behind the stumps (referring to Dhoni) who tells them what’s working, that helps.”
Gilchrist found Hardik’s bit about Dhoni “interesting”.
“That line about Dhoni is interesting. It tells that maybe he is feeling a bit of a lone wolf at the moment. Maybe it is all having a bit of an effect. Maybe Hardik Pandya is not feeling that he has got support around him,” said the Australian legend on Cricbuzz.
“His observation of the opposition is…he is not crediting the captain (Ruturaj Gaikwad) there… That tells me a bit about the mindset of Hardik at the moment and the uncertainty and hesitation within the Mumbai Indians,” Gilchrist added.
Anchor Gaurav Kapoor appreciated the legendary Australian wicket-keeper for “reading between the lines.” At the same time, he said that some kind of discomfort during the captaincy transition in the IPL franchise was expected. But it was assumed that it would go away after two to three games.
“If what Gilly is saying is even 50% true, that’s not good for a team. That’s not a team then,” Kapoor said.
Simon Doull on ‘calm and settled’ MI
Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull joined the conversation and said Mumbai had always looked “calm and settled” even during bad seasons.
“When that changes, so many things change with it. The team talks are completely different. The new guy (Hardik) is probably trying to stamp his mark. He’s probably trying to do things differently because he’s been there before. He knows what’s happened in the past,” Doull said.
“He’s probably trying to bring a different mindset to it. If some parts of the team aren’t really grasping onto what he wants them to do, or aren’t really grasping onto the setup that he wants to run, it can be very, very difficult,” he added.
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Published: 16 Apr 2024, 09:54 AM IST