Hardik Pandya Opens Up On Backlash, Captaincy Criticism And Booing By Fans In Stadium

There was a lot of noise around the Mumbai Indians team in IPL 2024. Amid the criticism from experts and veteran cricketers over MI's decision to remove Rohit Sharma from the leadership role, incumbent skipper Hardik Pandya faced the wrath of fans on the field and social media as they booed and jeered at him through the first three matches. And if that was not enough, Hardik Pandya himself faced criticism for a few of his captaincy calls as MI succumbed to three straight defeats at the start of IPL 2024.

Hardik Pandya Opens Up On Criticism

On Sunday, at the Wankhede Stadium, Hardik Pandya was left with a big smile after the match against Delhi Capitals as he secured his first win as MI skipper. Mumbai beat DC by 29 runs. After the win, Hardik opened up on the dressing-room chatter on the outside noise, saying that "clearing a lot of minds", and handling the players with "love and care" played a key role in MI managing to bounce back from the poor start.

Hardik Says We Needed Just One Win

"It was a lot of hard work," Hardik Pandya said in the post-match presentation. "We cleared a lot of minds, made sure our plans are right, the intent is right, and today was one of the days where everything clicked. There has been a lot of love and care going around. Everyone knows we lost three games, but the belief and attitude of backing each other was there, which has been fantastic. We needed just one win, and today is just the start."

Hardik Revealed About Suryakumar Yadav's Return

Hardik also revealed that the team finally looks settled with Suryakumar Yadav coming back after he missed the first three matches because he was recovering from injury. Suryakumar did not make an impactful return to his cherished format, as he was dismissed for a two-ball duck, but MI had kicked off the match on brisk note after openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan smashed 75 runs in the powerplay