Hardik Pandya clashed with his former franchise Gujarat Titans in their opening encounter of the TATA IPL 2024. It was complete chaos and not at all a homecoming for the star all rounder. Right from the moment the match started, be it the toss or when he batted or bowled, Pandya was under scrutiny for almost his every action on the field. He was booed by the crowd during the toss as well when he bowled the first over. The crowd erupted like a volcano when he was dismissed. They gave a massive roar when Rohit Sharma received an award post-match. As if they were wanting for Pandya to fail. It was more of a Bollywood movie rather than a cricket match. But the question is what has he done to receive so much hate?
Hardik Pandya has a Christiano Ronaldo-like career trajectory since he has debuted. Pandya is often in the thick of things: controversies, conversations, and high quality performances. He is a free flowing character, wears his heart on his sleeve, and is different from others. After every setback, he has made a commendable comeback. Pandya thrives on hate and often fuels his excellence due to it. He is bindhast, at times too casual. He gives the Calypso vibes His free flowing character is often misunderstood to be careless. While the outrage on him after the Coffee with Karan episode was acceptable, what happened yesterday was totally uncalled for.
Not a long time ago, Hardik Pandya was touted as the next Dhoni. He was supposed to lead the Indian T20 side for the T20 World Cup 2024. He was called as the best leader of the side reminiscent of Mahi with his calmness and the way he built the Gujarat Titans. An unfortunate injury and a historic transfer later, the hero has suddenly become a villian in the eyes of the public.
Hardik Pandya and MI Trade
In a historic trade before the IPL 2024, the Star Indian all rounder was transferred from Gujarat Titans to the 5-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians. Mumbai Indians paid 15 crores to Pandya and supposedly offered 100 crores to the Gujarat Titans. Such is the worth of an Indian fast bowling all rounder in today’s world!
But it was a huge addition for MI and a massive loss for the Titans. Just after the transfer, Pandya was also announced as the captain of Mumbai Indians. Looking at it from a neutral perspective, it was a very proactive move by the management. MI always have looked for the future. Even in 2013, despite Harbhajan winning the Champions League for MI, Rohit Sharma was made the captain of the side.
With the aging captain Rohit Sharma who is anyways the all format captain of the Indian Cricket Team, this move was bound to happen somewhere in the coming 2 years. But in India, it’s not the team that we support matters. The idol worshipping makes things worse. The Rohit Sharma fans were infuriated by this move blaming Hardik Pandya solely for this decision. He received a backlash that even any opponent would not face. Posters being torn, the uncalled names, everything went downhill very quickly.
Pandya led Gujarat Titans to the title in 2022 and almost in 2023 again. 2-ball magic from Jadeja stole the show away from them in 2023. Being the best allrounder and having a pretty good captaincy CV, there was no harm in handing over the captaincy to Hardik Pandya. With Rohit still around him, he could get more time to develop and prosper. It was the best thing to happen to the franchise.Â
For now Pandya must be given all the control that he feels is the right way to lead the side. Be it opening the bowling, gamble with a batting lineup or even send the former captain patrolling the boundary line. There’s no harm in doing so. There’s no need to micro analyse every decision he takes. He’s taken his former franchise twice in finals. It’s completely wrong to compare with Rohit everytime. His technique might he different from Rohit but he has results to back him. Let him blossom the way he wants. Give him the time he needs before analysing him. Disrespecting the way he was that too in the first match itself is a complete sign of immaturity by MI fans.
Gujarat Fans express disappointment
The disappointment of Gujarat fans is acceptable. When he was injured, MI did not retain him in the auction. It was the Titans who backed Hardik Pandya and trusted him even with the captaincy. Hardik led the team to amazing heights in the short span of the franchise’s history. He had built a name for himself and the team in 2 years. Pandya had close bond with teammates and brought the best out of them with the limited skills that they possessed. Plus being a Gujarati, he got closely associated with the people. The people of the state closely admired their skipper and it was a dagger through their hearts watching him leave the GT. He had a great chance to build a legacy for them like that of MI, CSK, or Bangalore.
But he had higher ambitions and again moved back to Mumbai. And, there’s nothing wrong in doing so. We will see more football-like transfers in cricket in some years’ time.
It is perfectly fine to dislike the decision of Pandya’s appointment as MI captain. But it’s unacceptable to boo him, call him names, and enjoy his failures. In doing so, the fans are unnecessarily increasing the pressure on MI and thereby doing more harm to your club. In the end, the decision makers are the MI management and not Hardik Pandya.
Remember there will be a time, when a million hopes are pinned upon him in a crucial match. There are only a few better than him to deliver for the team in tough times. Sport when looked beyond emotions and with an open eye on the process yields more success.
Stay updated with all the cricketing action, follow Cricadium on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram and Instagram
