Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin refused to blame Mumbai Indians’ debacle on captain Hardik Pandya, as no one on the team “turned up.” Ashwin claimed that it was “unfair” to hold the captain responsible for the team’s subpar performance.
Hardik hasn’t won a trophy for the team since his contentious return to the MI as captain in 2024, despite leading the Gujarat Titans to the title in the inaugural season. He hasn’t made much of an impact with the bat or ball either. MI is out of the running for the playoffs this season after finishing in the bottom half with only four victories in 12 games.
“I would not review his captaincy this year at all,” R Ashwin said on ESPNcricinfo TimeOut. “Honestly, when you have seasons like this, to pin the blame on the captain is quite unfair. Nobody has turned up. The team has failed to turn up, and for Hardik to take the blame on himself is… You are asking him to do a little too much,” he added.
Suryakumar Yadav (195 runs in 11 innings with a fifty at a strike rate of 144.44), Sherfane Rutherford (123 runs in seven innings with a best score of 71*), Jasprit Bumrah (three wickets in 12 matches), Deepak Chahar (five wickets in six matches), and Trent Boult (two wickets in five matches) are among the prominent players who performed poorly for MI this season.
Two of the team’s most important players, Mitchell Santner and Rohit Sharma, have also sustained injuries.
As a leader, Ashwin noted that “he did something right” in GT. He also brought attention to the social media abuse and harassment he encountered upon his return to MI, where he took the captaincy from five-time champions and ardent fan favorite Rohit Sharma.
“He was there at the Gujarat Titans. Had two fabulous seasons (one title and one runners-up finish). So clearly, as a leader, he did something right there. And when he returned to the Mumbai Indians, he had to deal with quite a bit. It is not easy to replace an incumbent Indian captain, white-ball captain, such as Rohit Sharma. Five [six] titles in the IPL. He has won a T20 World Cup. And Hardik comes and replaces him. You have got a lot of fandom going around in the country. You should have a thick skin to survive social media these days,” said Ashwin.
However, based on Hardik’s batting results and his tardiness in playing the deliveries, particularly the hard length ones, Ashwin has doubts about his physical health. He has questioned whether Hardik’s bat is simply too hefty or if he is dealing with a more serious condition like tennis elbow.
“With his [Hardik’s] batting, I found something quite interesting and strange, which is how late he has been on the ball. Is he going through something physically? We would not be able to know that if there is something, then maybe that physical aspect will bring him back. And if he gets better, he will come back to it. But he has been late on the hard-length deliveries,” he said.
“He is not someone who’s going to miss hard-length deliveries. He hits it 15 rows back. That is a bit of a concern for me, whether he is suffering something physically from a back issue or hands, or does he have a tennis elbow? Is his bat heavier (than it should be)? Does he need to recalibrate that? Those are things that I would want to know,” he added.
Hardik is a “once-in-a-generation” player, according to the former Indian all-rounder, and he has been the cornerstone of India’s T20I powerhouse, which has won two consecutive World Cups. Despite everything Hardik has accomplished for India on the international front, Ashwin stated that he can have a bad season.
“Hardik likes a bit of space. He kind of stays in his own zone. So the only thing I would be worried about is how late he is on the ball when he has been batting. Apart from that, it is okay. I would not judge any of the other aspects of his game,” Ashwin said.
