As Hardik Pandya returns to Wankhede as Mumbai Indians captain, a look at where he has struggled so far in IPL 2024

Pandya has been booed all through Mumbai Indians’ first two outings, first at his old stomping ground at Ahmedabad and then in Hyderabad. Gujarat Titans fans, in particular, made their feeling about Hardik known after he moved to Mumbai Indians before the season started.

Apart from being on the receiving end from the fans, Mumbai Indians’ new era under Pandya has also gotten off on the wrong foot, with defeats and contentious decisions.

Here are five talking points on Hardik Pandya’s captaincy

Bringing Jasprit Bumrah late

Jasprit Bumrah arguably the best fast bowler in all three formats has bowled only one over in the powerplay in two matches Mumbai Indians have played. In the first game against Gujarat Titans, Pandya bring his strike bowler in the fourth over with scorecard reading 27 for 0. In the run fest against Sunrisers, Bumrah again came to bowl in the fourth over with Hyderabad amassing 40 for 0.

Hardik Pandya has faced flak with decision to held Bumrah late. “Where is Jasprit Bumrah?? Game nearly done and your best bowler has only bowled ONE over!” Tom Moody, former SRH head coach, wrote on X.

Mumbai Indians’ Jasprit Bumrah celebrates the wicket of Gujarat Titans’ David Miller during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 T20 cricket match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans, at Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad. (PTI)

Australia cricketer Steve Smith and former India pacer Irfan Pathan picked out Hardik Pandya’s handling of Jasprit Bumrah in SRH game to elaborate how Mumbai Indians’ new captain had messed up his tactics. “Jasprit Bumrah bowled in the 4th over where he went for 5 runs. Then, we didn’t see him again till the 13th over when SRH were on a 173,” said Smith.

Taking the new ball

In both the matches, Pandya took the new ball. In the first match against the Titans, he conceded 30 run in three overs, while in the next he went for 46 runs and picked one wicket. In the first game, he leaked 20 runs in his first two overs then in the next, he gave away 24 runs against Sunrisers.

After the first match, former India cricketer Irfan Pathan criticised Hardik’s captaincy.

“Hardik Pandya made big mistakes in the match. In the powerplay, he bowled 2 overs himself, that was a big mistake. He brought Jasprit Bumrah into the attack a bit late,” Irfan Pathan said in a video on his Instagram account.

Pandya’s batting position

During his two-year stint as Gujarat Titans captain, Pandya has batted at No 4. He amassed 487 runs in the season, his best in the IPL, where he led the Titans to the trophy and then scored 346 runs in the following year.

Meanwhile, for Mumbai, the swashbuckling batter has batted No 7 and No 5, respectively.

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya walks back after getting out against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad. (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran)

“They sent Tim David higher up the order. He sent Tim David when Rashid Khan had an over left. I felt Hardik Pandya maybe didn’t want to face Rashid Khan after having not played cricket for a long time. This could be the case,” Pathan has said after MI’s six-run loss against the Titans.

In Hyderabad, where 523 runs were scored, with all the batters scoring at strike rate of 200 Pandya scored 20-ball 24.

Sending Rohit to the boundary

In the first match against the Titans, at one point, Rohit, who is generally seen fielding in the 30-yard circle, was sent near the boundary rope, to the surprise of the current India captain. Another time, Hardik kept gesturing to Rohit to move around, leading Suresh Raina, on commentary to say, “Rohit, now Hardik is the captain, you will need to go back.”

However, the tables turned in the second game, where Pandya was seen running to boundary after apparently being aske by Rohit, who setting the field during the carnage from Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma.

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya interacting with Rohit Sharma during IPL Cricket match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran)

However, R Ashwin has come out in strong support of Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya, blaming India’s “fan wars” and “cinema culture” for the vehement booing Hardik has been subjected to at various grounds this IPL season.

Divided opinion on Pandya’s captaincy

Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan has been one of the prominent critics of Hardik’s captaincy in both matches. He has pointed out the the way Pandya has used Bumrah and also made a scathing remark on him being slow off the blocks in Mumbai’s chase against the Sunrisers.

However, R Ashwin has come out in strong support of Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya, blaming India’s “fan wars” and “cinema culture” for the vehement booing Hardik has been subjected to at various grounds this IPL season.

Answering a question from a viewer on his YouTube channel on whether Mumbai should issue a statement to diffuse the situation, Ashwin said that the onus lay with the fans, not the team, to “get our act together” and put an end to such “ugly” scenes.

“People should remember which country these players represent. It’s our country, ” Ashwin said. “Fan wars should never take such an ugly route. I’ve said it many times, this is cinema culture, that happens only here.”