Irfan Pathan credits Ashish Nehra for Hardik Pandya’s past success

By: Bipin Dani

Mar. 29 (Daily Mirror) - The new Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya has come under fire after his team's two successive defeats in the ongoing IPL matches.

"I was happy when Mumbai Indians lost against Gujarat," said former wicketkeeper-batsman Nayan Mongia, speaking exclusively. Like Hardik Pandya, Nayan Mongia also hails from Baroda, Gujarat, and last year, Hardik Pandya was playing for Gujarat.

"It was a good match in the last four overs. Mumbai Indians also lost against SunRisers. Hardik Pandya has led the team at the junior level. When the team is winning, the captain is considered good, but he becomes unpopular if the team keeps losing matches. Cricket is a game of uncertainty. Hardik Pandya may bounce back in the next game," Mongia added.

Another all-rounder, Irfan Pathan, also from Baroda, claims that Hardik's success last year was due to Ashish Nehra.

"He (Hardik) had led the side in Gujarat with the help of Ashish Nehra. Now, he is making too many mistakes, and these mistakes are hurting his current MI team. The captaincy of Hardik Pandya has been ordinary, to say the least. Keeping Bumrah away for too long when the damage was already done is beyond my understanding. Hopefully, he will learn quickly from these mistakes," Irfan added.

India's former pacer Karsan Ghavri was also not happy with the handling of fast bowler Bumrah.

"One weird thing I find is why Bumrah is not opening the bowling attack," he asks.

Regarding Hardik's captaincy, Ghavri says, "It's too early to judge the quality of his captaincy. The IPL is a long tournament. We all need to wait and watch."