Mohammed Shami Takes A Serious Dig At Hardik Pandya's MI Captaincy In IPL 2024

Mumbai Indians' (MI) newly appointed captain Hardik Pandya did not had the best of starts as his side suffered a disappointing 6-run loss at the hands of Gujarat Titans (GT) during their opening encounter of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) season. Just after the IPL 2024 mini-auction, Mumbai Indians bought Hardik through all-cash trade deal from the Gujarat Titans at a hefty price of INR 15 Crore. MI took a really bold call when they decided to remove Rohit Sharma as the skipper who is one of the most successful captains in the IPL history having won as many as five titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. On the other hand, Hardik captained the Gujarat Titans' towards their debut IPL title in 2022 and then finished as the runner's up in IPL 2023. 

Mohammed Shami questions Hardik Pandya coming to bat at No.7 against Gujarat Titans

There are a lot of fingers being pointed out at MI captain Hardik Pandya regarding his batting position in the run-chase against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. The swashbuckling all-rounder came in to bat at No.7 when his team required 27 runs off the last two overs. He scored 11 runs off 4 deliveries before getting dismissed by seamer Umesh Yadav in the final over. Gujarat Titans' pacer Mohammed Shami who is not available for the entire IPL 2024 season due to injury, raised some serious questions on Hardik demoting himself in the important run-chase. 

"There is a lot of talks about left-right combination. I don't understand such things. Last match also we talked bout how much Pat Cummins is matured. You need to stay a step ahead. You should think, 'I am the captain, I should take this responsibility.' As far as Hardik is concerned, you have batted at No.3 and No.4 at Gujarat Titans, what is the problem in batting at No. 4 or 5 here in MI? Hardik at No. 7 basically becomes a tailender," stated Mohammed Shami during a recent interview. 

"When you come to bat at No. 7, you are coming in with a lot of pressure. I think if Hardik would have come earlier, the match would not have gone till last over," he added.

Shami also went on to question his former Gujarat Titans skipper whether he was following MS Dhoni's template of taking the game deep. However, Hardik has completed many successful chases in the past both in international cricket and IPL using his own big-hitting skills. 

"Dhoni is Dhoni. You cannot compare anyone. Everyone has a different mindset, whether it is Dhoni or Kohli. You should stay in the game depending on your skill. You batted at No. 3 and 4 in the last two seasons. You are used to that position. You can at the most bat at No. 5, but not at No. 7," Shami concluded.