5/9/24, 6:10 PM Mumbai Indians seniors question team functioning under Hardik Pandya | Ipl News - The Indian

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News / Sports / IPL 2024 / Mumbai Indians seniors question team functioning under Hardik Pandya

Mumbai Indians seniors question

team functioning under Hardik
Pandya
The Indian Express understands that MI's key players recently conveyed to the coaching
staff that there was a lack of buzz in the dressing room and the reason was Hardik's
leadership style.

Written by Devendra Pandey

Updated: May 9, 2024 08:35 IST

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5/9/24, 6:10 PM Mumbai Indians seniors question team functioning under Hardik Pandya | Ipl News - The Indian Express

Mumbai Indians' decision to replace Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as captain hasn't been a
popular one with Hardik getting repeatedly booed by fans on match days. (PHOTO: PTI)

SENIOR MEMBERS of the struggling Indian Premier League side Mumbai Indians have
questioned the functioning of the team under captain Hardik Pandya. Languishing in 9th spot in the
10-team competition, MI’s decision to remove Rohit Sharma, the present India skipper who has led
the franchise to five IPL titles, hasn’t been a popular one with Hardik getting repeatedly booed by
fans on match days at the start of the season.

The Indian Express understands that MI’s key players recently conveyed to the coaching staff that
there was a lack of buzz in the dressing room and the reason was Hardik’s leadership style.

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5/9/24, 6:10 PM Mumbai Indians seniors question team functioning under Hardik Pandya | Ipl News - The Indian Express

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya during the IPL 2024 cricket match against Chennai Super
Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. (PTI Photo)

An MI official said this wasn’t a leadership crisis but more of a sign that a team that was used to
Rohit’s captaincy for the last 10 years was still coming to terms with the change of guard. “These
are regular teething problems for a team that sees leadership change. This happens in sports all the
time,” he said.

Those in the know said the players and coaching staff had met following a game. Among the Indian
stars who were part of the meeting were MI old hands Rohit, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit
Bumrah. Over a meal, they put out their thoughts across and pointed to the reasons for the team not
doing well. It is also learnt that later there have been one-on-one interactions between certain
seniors and team management representatives.

ALSO READ | Why did Mumbai Indians ruthlessly swap Rohit Sharma for Hardik Pandya
and why do Chennai Super Kings still stick to Thala Dhoni?

The Tilak Varma flashpoint

This comes on the heels of Hardik, in his post-match comments after the loss to Delhi Capitals,
purportedly pointing fingers at the team’s top scorer Tilak Varma for lacking “match awareness”.

“When Axar Patel (DC bowler) was bowling to a left-hander (Tilak), the better option could have
been to go after him,” Hardik told the broadcasters. “I think it was just a little game awareness that
we missed out on. At the end of the day, that cost us the game.”

The blaming of one player for the team’s failure, sources said, didn’t go down well in the dressing
room.

Experts commenting on the game have hinted that there is something amiss about MI this season.
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke went to the extent of saying that the franchise seems to be
divided in factions.

“I think there are different groups inside that changing room and something is not working. They
are not gelling together, they are not playing as a team,” said Clarke.

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5/9/24, 6:10 PM Mumbai Indians seniors question team functioning under Hardik Pandya | Ipl News - The Indian Express

MI officials said the franchise, like every year, will take stock of the season and, if needed, take a
call on the future of the team.

Get latest updates on IPL 2024 from IPL Points Table to Teams, Schedule, Most Runs and
Most Wickets along with live score updates for all matches. Also get Sports news and more
cricket updates.

© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd

First uploaded on: 09-05-2024 at 08:26 IST

TAGS: Captain Rohit Sharma Hardik Pandya IPL 2024 IPL Today Mumbai Indians

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