'Mumbai were 0-5 under Rohit Sharma': Hardik Pandya FINALLY finds support from a cricket legend

Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag has backed Hardik Pandya amid the ongoing captaincy controversy at Mumbai Indians. Pandya has been facing constant boos from the fans wherever he has gone thus far. Fans seem to be unhappy with the Indian all-rounder for accepting captaincy by MI management and replacing Rohit Sharma from the top spot. 

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After playing for Mumbai Indians from 2015 to 2021, Hardik Pandya moved to the newly-added Gujarat Titans ahead of the IPL 2022 season. He became the captain of the team and led them to victory in their maiden year in the IPL. The following year, Hardik helped GT reach the final of IPL 2023, where they lost to CSK but won the hearts of their fans. 

Mumbai Indians decided to bring back Hardik Pandya to their team ahead of the IPL 2024 season, probably looking at Rohit Sharma's limited time as a player. They paid an undisclosed sum to GT to buy Hardik ahead of the auctions. MI then named Hardik Pandya as the new captain of the team without giving a formal farewell to their most successful skipper ever. This may have caused the fans to behave the way they did in the last three games - booing Hardik Pandya.

Virender Sehwag backs Hardik Pandya

Virender Sehwag has now commented on the issue and has backed Hardik Pandya. He said that the team had lost five matches on the trot when Rohit Sharma was captain, so the management will be easy on Hardik Pandya too.  

"This team had lost five successive matches under Rohit Sharma's captaincy too; they were 0-5. Then, they were champions (lost in the playoffs). So, they will be patient with Hardik, too. These are stats. They have been 0-3 down, too. But if this extends beyond that too, it might test the team management's patience," Virender Sehwag told Cricbuzz.

“2-3 franchises have done that. Punjab did that, Chennai did that when they gave the captaincy to Jadeja, and then Dhoni took over the captaincy again. But it happened midway through the season. I don't think MI will think about the captaincy switch right now. You can't change a captain after three games; that doesn't send the right message to the team, too. But after seven games, when the season is right in the middle, they can take a call based on how the performance has been," Sehwag added.

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