Hardik Pandya is clearly under pressure. His team Mumbai Indians are not their usual self while his own captaincy, since replacing Rohit Sharma in Mumbai Indians, is under the scanner. The effect on Pandya is so apparent that former India star Robin Uthappa recently said that Pandya may be battling mental health. “The mocking, trolling, the memes about his fitness. You don’t think it hurts him? It hurts him. It hurts any human being. How many people actually know the reality of it? Hardik is dealing with mental health issues, for sure. We, as people, I understand, as Indians, we are emotional. But it is not right to impose this kind of treatment on any human being. It is unbecoming as a society for us to do that to someone and be okay with it. We should not be laughing along with it. We should not be forwarding these memes,” he said on the Ranveer Show.
Even former Pakistan cricket team star pacer Wasim Akram, whose exploits with the ball is legendary, is concerned about how things have developed for Pandya.
“This is the problem in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. We never forget. We tell our kids that when Pandya’s kid is born, you have to remind him why he became captain 20 years ago. We don’t move on,” Wasim Akram said on Sportskeeda.
“I think fans need to be a little calm. At the end of the day, he is your player. He plays for Mumbai Indians, and he is the one who can make you win. They still can qualify for the IPL 2024 playoffs. There is no point booing your own player. You can criticize a little bit, but move on,” Akram concluded.
Regarding the captaincy change in MI, Akram said: “In franchise cricket, such things happen. Look at how CSK took the captaincy decision for the long run, and maybe, even they (MI) had the same idea. This was not a personal decision, but in my view, Rohit Sharma should have continued as captain for one more year. Perhaps, next year, Hardik Pandya could have been the captain.”
