Five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) are often viewed as slow starters in the Indian Premier League (IPL), having lost their initial matches of the season on multiple occasions before going on to claim the title. However, following a hat-trick of losses under Hardik Pandya's leadership, there are growing concerns regarding his captaincy. The team's succession planning for their leadership has not unfolded as anticipated.
Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden highlighted areas where MI appears to have faltered in their succession strategy. Currently, MI is at the bottom of the points table, having lost all three of their matches.
Matthew Hayden emphasised that MI fans have a deep affection for Rohit Sharma and suggested that the franchise should ensure he remains involved with the team and shares his insights.
"See the fans are the biggest stakeholders in this and they often don't have the politics, the insights, but they want to understand this, they love Rohit Sharma. There's going to be no getting around that. So potentially how it could have been handled little bit differently is to ensure that Rohit is on board with it, the franchise is communicating it out to the fans, through social media platforms that announce a lot of these things and they actually carry a lot of weight," Hayden said on Star Sports.
MI put faith in Hardik Pandya
In a significant move last year, ahead of the auction, Hardik was traded to MI from the Gujarat Titans (GT) in an all-cash deal. Following the trade, he was named captain of the team, marking the end of Rohit Sharma's tenure, under whom the franchise secured five titles. This decision has faced criticism from MI's extensive fan base in India, with fans expressing their displeasure on social media and even booing Hardik at the three venues they've played, including their home ground, the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Hayden on CSK's succession plan.
Reflecting on the Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) succession planning in 2022, which saw Ravindra Jadeja stepping down as captain mid-season for MS Dhoni to take over, Hayden cautioned against hastily judging Hardik's captaincy. Given that only three matches have been played and considering MI's history of slow starts, Hayden believes it would be premature to make any drastic decisions.
"You got to have a succession plan and you've seen the same thing with CSK didn't we, when Jaddu came into captaincy and it didn't quite work for them so maybe there is an opportunity to reassess," said Hayden.
"There are some concerns in and around Hardik's leadership but I think it's grossly unfair to look at the start of the season which is notoriously slow for the Mumbai Indians, and judge one of the iconic cricketers in India and will be for a long time to come as well, subject to his own fitness which is always vulnerable being an all-rounder as he is. But it's grossly unfair to misjudge his performances so far, and the team’s performances, and then speculate around what is and what isn't happening inside that changing room which we don't know," Hayden added.
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