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Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has criticised Hardik Pandya's captaincy style for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League. He labeled it as ‘ego-driven’ and ‘lacking genuineness’. After replacing long-time skipper Rohit Sharma, the all-rounder had a disappointing outing in his IPL 2024 campaign, with MI being the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention after winning four games in 12 matches. Pandya has also faced massive criticism from fans across different venues and online this season.
“The captaincy style of Hardik Pandya is quite bravado. It’s ego-driven in a way, chest out. I don’t think how he walks on the field is always genuine, but he has decided that is his way of captaincy. Almost like MS (Dhoni). Cool, calm, collective, always got your chest out," De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
Despite leading the Gujarat Titans (GT) to back-to-back IPL finals, Pandya's approach flopped in MI. De Villiers said that his style worked for GT because it was a young team.
"When you play with a lot of experienced players, guys who have been around for ages, they don’t buy into that. It worked at GT, where it was a younger team. Sometimes, inexperienced players love to follow that kind of leadership. We don’t need the bravado”, De Villiers added.
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'All I needed to do as a youngster was to follow'
De Villiers suggested that Pandya could benefit from a change in approach. He also shared his personal experience playing under Graeme Smith in the national team and how that helped him as a player.
“I remember Graeme Smith. He was out there for the team. All I needed to do as a youngster was to follow. Now, there’s a Rohit (Sharma), there’s a (Jasprit) Bumrah," he continued.
'I’m not having a go at Hardik'
The former Proteas skipper went on to say that he was not targeting Pandya and loved to watch him play.
"They go like, ‘All we need you to be is calm. Give us a bit of input on how to win matches. We don’t need the bravado. I’m not having a go at Hardik. I love watching him play. I love him putting out his chest because I was like that. I believed that as a batter sometimes, you’ve got to fake it to make it,” he concluded.
Notably, MI will cross swords with Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 60th match of the IPL 2024 at the Eden Gardens on May 11.
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