Hardik Pandya, the new skipper of Mumbai Indians, is facing the wrath of Mumbai Indians fans both online and offline. Even after requests from cricketers like Ashvin and celebs like Sonu Sood, fans are showing no mercy on Hardik.
The Wankhede stadium in Mumbai saw the same scenario. Spectators started booing Pandya when he came for the toss. The situation got so intense that Sanjay Manjrekar had to urge the public to “Behave.” Not only Indian cricketers but also foreign cricketers reacted to the hatred Hardik was facing.
Sanjay Manjrekar asking Wankhede crowd to behave. pic.twitter.com/rxLRSO33yN
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 1, 2024
Hardik Pandya, who received sympathy from his cricketing mates, also received vital advice from others. One such advice has now been given by veteran Indian cricketer and commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu. He advised Hardik Pandya to focus on team combination; later, he also advised Pandya to take some lessons from MS Dhoni.
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“There is nothing that succeeds like success.”
While talking to Star Sports, he said no one would hate or criticize Pandya if Mumbai won the matches. He said, “There is nothing that succeeds like success. If Mumbai Indians had won the last two games, everyone would have been silent. I think he (Hardik Pandya) should focus on the team combination. When you concede 277 runs, everyone screams that your bowling is not good enough. How could a team score 277 when it was unprecedented in the tournament? The other game (against Gujarat Titans) was a close one. They were defeated, not disgraced.”
While talking about Dhoni, Sidhu said, “Look at what Dhoni does. When Devon Conway, who was the leading run-getter for him last season, got injured, he got in Rachin Ravindra, who is similar and somewhat better. He needs to find that kind of replacements or he will be exposed.”
Poor form and Poor luck
The lack of form of MI skipper Hardik Pandya has added fuel to the fire. In the last three matches, Hardik has not scored any good runs nor made any impact with his bowling. He and the entire team are looking out of class in the IPL this season. In their match against SRH, the Mumbai bowlers failed terribly and conceded 277 runs. Similarly, in their last mast against RR, the Mumbai batters failed to stand against Rajasthan’s bowling and managed to give a target of only 126 to chase.
Surprisingly, MI’s top order performed the worst and suffered three golden ducks. These miserable instances have kept the five-time IPL champions last on the points table, with three out of three losses.
