Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya is clearly under the pump. Since Hardik Pandaya has replaced Rohit Sharma as the skipper of the Mumbai Indians, there have been talks of various sorts. The pressure on Hardik Pandya is so great that the former Indian player Robbin Uthappa went on to say that “Hardik might be battling with mental health.”
In his interaction on a podcast show, Robbin Uthappa said, “The mocking, trolling, and memes about his fitness. You don’t think it hurts him? It hurts him. It hurts any human being. How many people actually know the reality of it? Hardik is dealing with mental health issues, for sure. We, as people, understand that, as Indians, we are emotional. But it is not right to impose this kind of treatment on any human being. It is unbecoming of us as a society to do that to someone and be okay with it. We should not be laughing along with it. We should not be forwarding these memes.”
Even former pace sensation The Sultan of Swing” Wasim Akram is a bit concerned about how things are developing for Hardik Pandya.
Wasim Akram said, “This is the problem in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. We never forget. We tell our kids that when Pandya’s kid is born, you have to remind him why he became captain 20 years ago. We don’t move on.”
Akram further went on to say, “”I think fans need to be a little calm. At the end of the day, he is your player. He plays for the Mumbai Indians, and he is the one who can make you win. They can still qualify for the IPL 2024 playoffs. There is no point in booing your own player. You can criticize a little bit, but move on.”
Wasim Akram also shared his opinion about the change in captaincy.
Wasim Akram said, “In franchise cricket, such things happen. Look at how CSK took the captaincy decision for the long run, and maybe even they (MI) had the same idea. This was not a personal decision, but in my view, Rohit Sharma should have continued as captain for one more year. Perhaps next year, Hardik Pandya could have been the captain.”
