Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya during the IPL 2024 cricket match against Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. (PTI Photo)
Mumbai Indians’ captain Hardik Pandya’s spot in the 15-member Indian cricket team to travel to the T20 World Cup in June still remains under question.
The all-rounder is struggling to make an impact for MI in IPL 2024 as a player and as a captain. Hardik’s problems are compounded by the torrent of abuse he has received from the fans in stadiums and online.
A day after former India players Sanjay Manjrekar left Hardik out of the his 15-member pick for the Indian cricket team for the T20 World Cup, ex-India pacer Irfan Pathan has called for the Indian team management to “not give so much importance to Hardik as they have so far”.
Mumbai: Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya during the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians, at Wankhede Staduim, in Mumbai, Sunday, April 7, 2024. (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil)
“What I feel about Hardik Pandya is that Indian cricket needs to make it clear… they should not give him that much priority as they have given him so far, because we still haven’t won the World Cup. If you think you are a primary all-rounder, you need to make that kind of an impact at the international level. As far as the all-rounder spot is concerned he hasn’t made that impact at the international level, we are only thinking about the potential. We are getting confused between the IPL performances and the international performances. That’s a big difference,” Pathan said on Star Sports’ Press Room Show.
Hardik Pandya cannot pick and choose games
He added: “First of all, Hardik needs to play throughout the full year. He cannot pick and choose. Indian cricket needs to stop doing that. Stop giving preferences to individuals, if you do that, you will not be winning major tournaments. What Australia has been doing for many years is that they are actually preferring the team game. Making everyone a superstar. Not one superstar, everybody is a superstar in the squad. If you don’t do that, you will not win big tournaments.”
Hardik is hoping to make it to the Indian team for the T20 World Cup. Hardik suffered an ankle injury during the ODI World Cup in 2023 — in the fourth match of the World Cup against Bangladesh in Pune, which sidelined him from cricket until February 2024.
Pathan also highlighted the problems Indian team is facing in having finishers and seam bowlers for the T20 World Cup.
“This is what I’m really scared about when it comes to World Cup. Look, my worry is with T20 World Cup, we pretty much sorted as far as the top-order batting is concerned. We pretty much sorted in the middle overs as well. If we’re thinking Ravindra Jadeja is a number seven batter, you need a good finisher. His numbers are not that great as far as the strike rate is concerned at the international level. So there is a worry for me there and the fast bowling. Apart from Jasprit Bumrah, if I look at the guys playing in IPL, played before the IPL in the last South Africa series, their numbers are not that great, be it Arshdeep, be it Mohammed Siraj, you know, the guys who played last. So these two departments, it really makes me worry. And these are the departments going to be very, very crucial,” he added.
