Image Credit- MI
The Mumbai Indians,
who will begin play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday, March 22,
will be captained by Hardik Pandya. Before the IPL 2024 players auction, MI
traded Hardik from the Gujarat Titans, and he took Rohit Sharma’s spot as the
team’s captain. In their first IPL season in 2022, the 30-year-old led GT to
victory. He later led them to the final season, where they were defeated by
Chennai Super Kings (CSK). While there was a lot of criticism directed towards
MI’s decision to remove Rohit from captain, former Australia batsman Tom Moody
described Hardik as a “performer” with experience and stated that the
all-rounder will have the backing of his teammates in the forthcoming campaign.
“He has got a
team that will back up and take away the pressure of inconsistent performances.
He will have the support of the Indian and overseas players because he is a
highly respected cricketer and a performer as an all-rounder,” Moody said on
ESPNcricinfo.
However, Moody warned Hardik that captaincy becomes tricky when you start
losing matches, adding that people will start pointing out loopholes in the
decision making.
“But, captaincy can be a completely different game once you lose two or
three games and suddenly they pick holes out of your leadership, they pick
holes out of the decisions you make,” the former SRH head coach added.
While suggesting
that Hardik has proved himself as a captain in the past, Moody re-iterated that
his teammates’ support will be key.
Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com
“When you are winning, you can make the craziest decisions and still
people build them up to being genius strokes. Hardik has the credentials as the
Gujarat Titans leader, he is tactically sound and he will be supported by all
the senior players, both Indian and overseas,” he said.