'There is no Hardik in Gujarat to tell the bowlers what to bowl': Sreesanth explains why Pandya leaving Titans is an advantage

Hardik Pandya's Mumbai Indians (MI) captaincy debut was considered by many as full of flaws. After leading Gujarat Titans (GT) to a title win in their debut season and final in the previous edition, MI roped in Hardik's services as captain in a controversial trade. However, after just one match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, he is facing widespread criticism. In contrast, Shubman Gill is earning praise for leading GT to a thrilling win in Ahmedabad. India’s T20 World Cup 2007 winner S Sreesanth feels that Hardik leaving GT has worked to the franchise’s advantage. 
 

“There is no Hardik in Gujarat to tell the bowlers what to bowl,” Sreesanth said on Fancode.
 

“Sometimes you need to give the bowler that freedom to bowl. This time the captain is Gill, and I’m sure Ashish bhai (Ashish Nehra) will say let them bowl. Bowlers will also take responsibility with a young captain and sometimes, this is the advantage of having a young captain.”
 

Hardik was under pressure on his MI captaincy debut leading former MI skipper Rohit Sharma and India’s Test vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah. His move to send Rohit to field at long-on to demoting himself down the order and sending Tim David when Rashid Khan had one over left are among a few controversial moves Hardik took as captain. 
 

Pollard supports Hardik all the way

Meanwhile, MI's batting coach Kieron Pollard has backed Hardik saying that it wasn't his decision alone.
 

"No decision is made on full autonomy, so we can't say it is his decision. As a team, we have plans; we talk about setting entry points for batters. The top order batted deep into the game, and we also had two power hitters to go in the back end,” Pollard said in the post-match press conference.
 

"Usually, if you look at it over time, Tim (David) has finished games for us, and Hardik has done it over the years.

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"So, at any point, any one of them can resurrect the situation. It didn't happen tonight, so there will likely be a chat about who should have gone earlier.
 

"But all of those things are in hindsight, and as a team, we make decisions, so let's put a stop to 'Hardik made a decision, Hardik did this, Hardik did that'. We are a team. We make decisions collectively as one.”

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Hardik will have a chance to prove himself when the five-time IPL champions take on Pat Cummins' Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on March 27.
 

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