Hardik Pandya is under pressure after losing the first two games as captain in the Indian Premier League 2024. The team lost to Gujarat Titans before Sunrisers Hyderabad thumped them by 31 runs. Hardik’s captaincy has been questioned by former cricketers.
In the first game against GT, he didn’t come out to bat when MI needed runs from his bat. Instead, he promoted Tim David ahead of him. The move backfired as Gujarat stunned the five-time champions.
In the second game against SRH, he didn’t bowl Jasprit Bumrah despite Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma going great guns. Bumrah was given the second over in the middle phase with the Pat Cummins-led team on 173/3 in 12 overs.
A fan shared a statement from Aakash Chopra claiming that the former player wants Hardik to be sacked from MI captaincy. When Chopra saw the tweet, he revealed the truth behind the viral message.
“I have seen the worst captaincy till date by any captain in history of IPL. Hardik Pandya has really done very bad captaincy. Hardik should either give up the captaincy himself or Mumbai Indians should remove him.”~ Akash Chopra [Jio cinema] How do you feel now, @mipaltan
? It’s your future.🤣,’ the post read.
However, Aakash denied making any such remark about Pandya.
“Kuch bhi? Anything for engagement?? Don’t spread lies, brother. 🙏🏽 Statement wrong. My name’s spelling is wrong. What’s wrong with you? 🤪😂,” he replied back.
Hardik as trolled in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad by fans. He has been facing massive flak since the day he replaced Rohit Sharma as captain of Mumbai Indians.
Chopra had already said that Hardik would be targeted at the Narendra Modi stadium.
‘”He will be targeted by the fans for leaving Gujarat Titans. The fans will not spare him for leaving the franchise after two years. I want Hardik to get booed in Ahmedabad,’ he said on JioCinema.