Mumbai Indians coach Mark Boucher has blamed the constant booing from fans against Hardik Pandya as the reason for him being clouded in this ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League. Boucher expressed how sorry he felt for Hardik watching him on the receiving end of so much hate for succeeding Rohit Shama as the new MI sipper after his team's 18-run loss against LSG in their final match of IPL 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium, on May 17 (Friday).
Mark Boucher on Hardik Pandya
"It wasn't great hearing all the boos. Certainly, I felt sorry for Hardik as well. It's never nice to go through something like that. So yeah, there are certain things we need to address. And we are going to address them. Now is not probably the right time. Everyone is very disappointed and emotional, so no good decision will get made in the nearest sort of time. We need to go back. We need to evaluate exactly what's going on," Boucher said in the post-match press conference.
Boucher said that they would sit and address the off-field stuff too that is affecting the individuals as well. He said they have great people in the management that will help them make improvement in both on and off-field stuff.
"[There are] things that we need improvement on, whether on the field or off the field stuff. We've got some great heads within the management team as well, and we'll sit down and we'll find a way of how to make it better ultimately for the players to produce the sort of cricket that we know these players can produce, which was under par this season. There were a lot of things happening, a lot of moving parts this season, which wasn't great to be a part of at certain times. There are certain things that did affect individuals, which ultimately did affect the team. So those are the sort of things we need to sit down and address and hopefully make some good calls going forward as well to address the off-field stuff," he added.
Mark Boucher speaks on Hardik's performance in IPL 2024
Hardik Pandya's move to Mumbai Indians did not give the result everyone was expecting. The team finished the season at the bottom of the points table with only 8 points in 14 matches. Even Hardik himself could not be performed as an individual. He scored 216 runs in 13 innings at an average of 18.00 and a strike rate of 143.04. He did not impress with the ball either and could only take 11 wickets in 12 innings at an economy rate of 10.75.
"I think that if [Hardik] was here, he'd also be disappointed in his performances. From a captain's perspective, I thought he had some good games. There's a lot of stuff going on around him that maybe clouded his thoughts every now and again, which I said is tough for him as a leader as well. He certainly had a lot of support within our dressing room but it's a tough thing to go through as a player. There's a lot of sympathy for what he's going through," said Boucher on Hardik's performances.
"A lot of the stuff he is going through is, I think, uncalled for. It will certainly be a learning curve for Hardik as he grows in leadership. While times are tough now, a couple of things will pass and make him a tougher leader and it will certainly grow him in the role as well. I still think there are some fantastic things coming from Hardik Pandya as a leader," he added.
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