MI Seniors Raise Concerns About Team's Environment Under Hardik Pandya's Leadership: Report

Mumbai Indians became the first team of IPL 2024 to get eliminated after SRH beat LSG in Wednesday night clash. Hardik Pandya is being brutally slammed for his poor leadership.

Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma. (Image: X)

Mumbai Indians (MI) are likely to finish at the bottom of the IPL 2024 Points Table. With just 4 wins from 12 matches in this season so far, their campaign has clearly not gone the way it should have. Under a new leader, MI have failed to produce results. Skipper Hardik Pandya has faced trolling on social media and constant booing in the ground throughout the season. The removal of Rohit Sharma, who won MI 5 titles as captain, did not go down well with the fans. The fact that Hardik was chosen as captain over Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah has also upset the fans. Hardik's poor show as captain and an all-rounder has only fuelled this anger among the fans.

As per a report in The Indian Express, the seniors have spoken to the coaching staff of MI and expressed their unhappiness over the lack of buzz in the dressing room, blaming Hardik's leadership for it. An MI official, speaking to Indian Express, however, defended Hardik, saying that the team will take some time to adjust to a different style of captaincy. "These are regular teething problems for a team that sees leadership change. This happens in sports all the time," the MI official said.

Not to forget, Hardik had directly put blame on his left-handed batter Tilak Varma after a loss. Hardik had said, "When Axar Patel (DC bowler) was bowling to a left-hander (Tilak), the better option could have been to go after him,"  Hardik told the broadcasters. "I think it was just a little game awareness that we missed out on. At the end of the day, that cost us the game." Reportedly, this comment from Hardik did not go down well in his dressing room as nobody liked singling out a player for a loss.

The report also mentions a team meeting that happened between the seniors in the group and the coaching staff. It happened over a meal and the likes of Rohit, Bumrah, Surya expressed their opinion on why team has not been able to win games this season. The social media rumours say that this is the last time MI fans have seen Rohit in the Mumbai colours and he is likely to change teams next year as the next mega auction is not far away.