The Mumbai Indians are not having their best of seasons in the IPL. The Hardik Panda-led team was beaten by the Rajasthan Royals in a comprehensive manner. The Mumbai Indians now need to win all the remaining matches to qualify for the playoffs.
Apart from that, Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya is also having a disastrous season with both bat and ball. However, former Indian opener Virendra Sehwag feels that the all-rounder should not put himself under a lot of pressure and rather focus on performance.
In his interaction with Cricbuzz, Virendra Sehwag said, ““I don’t think (pressure is increasing on Hardik as a batter and bowler), although maybe he is taking the pressure because of the expectations around him. But Mumbai was in the same situation last year and many times previously as well. It is nothing new to them. Rohit did not score runs as a captain. He did not even win the trophy as captain in the last 2–3 seasons” .
Sehwag also requested Hardik Pandaya to bat up the order so that he could gain confidence by facing more deliveries. Hardik Pandya batted at number 4 for the Gujarat Titans, which is termed his best season in the IPL in 2022.
Sehwag said, “Mumbai knows that they have been in situations like these, so only if they perform as a team from here on will they get…but if Hardik goes with the expectation that he has to bowl and bat well and that they are not winning under his captaincy and it sort of creates pressure on him, then that is wrong. And to perform well, he has to bat higher up the order as well, right? If you bat down the order and get about 18 balls to face, then how will he perform? He needs to give himself that chance, because if he bats well, his bowling and captaincy will improve as well.”
