Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya during IPL 2024© X (formerly Twitter)
Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2024 campaign experienced a major setback as the Hardik Pandya-led side was comprehensively defeated by Rajasthan Royals on Monday. As a result, MI have just six points from 8 matches and will have to win all their remaining matches to qualify for the playoffs. Hardik also faced a lot of criticism after his poor performance as both a player and captain. It has been a common trend since he replaced Rohit Sharma as MI captain, but great India batsman Virender Sehwag believes that the all-rounder should keep the pressure on himself. He said that Rohit also could not win the IPL title in the last 2-3 seasons and despite the expectations of the fans, Hardik should focus on himself.
“I don’t think the pressure is increasing (on Hardik as a batsman and bowler), however, maybe he is taking pressure because of the expectations around him. But the situation was similar in Mumbai last year too, and a few times before too. This is nothing new for them. Rohit did not score runs as captain. He hasn’t even won a trophy as captain in the last 2-3 seasons,” he said on Cricbuzz.
Sehwag also advised Hardik to move himself up the batting order as this will give him a chance to face more balls and boost his confidence. The all-rounder has batted at No. 4 for Gujarat Titans in the past, but against RR, he came in to bat at No. 7 despite his team losing three wickets early in the powerplay.
“Mumbai knows they have been in situations like this, so if they perform as a team here, only then will they get a chance… But if Hardik goes in with the expectation that he will have to bowl and bat well And they’re not winning.” If his captaincy and this puts pressure on him then it is wrong. And to perform well he will have to bat higher up the order as well, right? If you bat lower down the order, you have to face almost 18 balls, how will he perform? He needs to give himself a chance, because if he bats well, his bowling and captaincy will also improve,’ Sehwag said.
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