“What Is The Problem?”: Mohammed Shami Questions Hardik Pandya’s MI Captaincy, Takes ‘Tailender’ Dig

Hardik Pandya’s begin to Mumbai Indians captaincy was a forgettable one. Under his management, Mumbai Indians began the IPL 2024 marketing campaign with a six-run loss to Gujarat Titans. Chasing a goal of 169, Mumbai Indians fell brief regardless of the sport going into the final over. Captain Hardik Pandya might rating solely 11 off 4 deliveries however what was extra baffling was his batting place at No. 7. The determination has been extensively criticised and Pandya’s Indian cricket teammate Mohammed Shami can be sursprised.

“There is a lot of talks about left-right combination. I don’t understand such things. Last match also we talked bout how much Pat Cummins is matured. You need to stay a step ahead. You should think, ‘I am the captain, I should take this responsibility.’ As far as Hardik is concerned, you have batted at No.3 and No.4 at Gujarat Titans, what is the problem in batting at No. 4 or 5 here in MI? Hardik at No. 7 basically becomes a tailender,” Shami mentioned on Cricbuzz.

“When you come to bat at No. 7, you are coming in with a lot of pressure. I think if Hardik would have come earlier, the match would not have gone till last over.”

“Is he following Dhoni template?” the anchor requested Shami.

“Dhoni is Dhoni. You cannot compare anyone. Everyone has a different mindset, whether it is Dhoni or Kohli. You should stay in the game depending on your skill. You batted at No. 3 and 4 in the last two seasons. You are used to that position. You can at the most bat at No. 5, but not at No. 7,” Shami replied.

Manoj Tiwary, who was a part of the panel, indicated that the choice of Hardik to bat at No. 7 was not taken by the MI captain alone.

“I feel it wasn’t his call. In Gujarat, I feel, only two people were running the game, Hardik and Nehra. In Mumbai dugout there are some big names present. So probably they might have influenced him to drop down the order because they have invested a lot on young players like Tilak Verma and Brevis. Mark Boucher will obviously listen to Sachin…he will then discuss with other members of the team management and then decide,” he mentioned.