Tom Moody warned Hardik Pandya that captaincy becomes tricky when you start losing games.© X (Twitter)
Hardik Pandya is all set to lead Mumbai Indians in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), starting Friday, March 22. Hardik replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain of the franchise after MI traded him from Gujarat Titans before the IPL 2024 players auction. The 30-year-old led GT to IPL glory in their debut season in 2022 and then guided them to the final last season where they lost to Chennai Super Kings (CSK). While MI’s decision to remove Rohit as captain received huge backlash from fans, former Australia batter Tom Moody labelled Hardik as proven “performer”, and said that the all-rounder will get support from his teammates in the upcoming season.
“He has got a team that will back up and take away the pressure of inconsistent performances. He will have the support of the Indian and overseas players because he is a highly respected cricketer and a performer as an all-rounder,” Moody said on ESPNcricinfo.
However, Moody warned Hardik that captaincy becomes tricky when you start losing matches, adding that people will start pointing out loopholes in the decision making.
“But, captaincy can be a completely different game once you lose two or three games and suddenly they pick holes out of your leadership, they pick holes out of the decisions you make,” the former SRH head coach added.
While suggesting that Hardik has proved himself as a captain in the past, Moody re-iterated that his teammates’ support will be key.
“When you are winning, you can make the craziest decisions and still people build them up to being genius strokes. Hardik has the credentials as the Gujarat Titans leader, he is tactically sound and he will be supported by all the senior players, both Indian and overseas,” he said.
In his first game as MI captain, Hardik will face his former team GT on Sunday, March 24.
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