Distraught Hardik Pandya consoled after third loss, ex-Mumbai Indians star puts his arms around in emotional interaction | Cricket

Hardik Pandya is going through a rough patch in the Indian Premier League as his homecoming at Mumbai Indians is not going as planned thus far with three losses on a trot. Pandya led Gujarat Titans to the IPL title triumph in 2022 and also took them to the final last season but he has failed to create the same impact at MI as the skipper thus far.

The five-time IPL champions have failed to put up a collective effort on the field and are currently placed at the bottom of the points table. The flamboyant all-rounder is also having a tough time dealing with the fans who have turned their back on him after he was announced as skipper replacing Rohit Sharma.

The 30-year-old has been facing the heat of the fans with the clattering of ‘boos’ at all three venues, MI have played thus far this season including their homeground Wankhede Stadium.

After Mumbai’s crushing defeat to Rajasthan Royals on Monday, Pandya looked distraught as the skipper was seen sitting in the team dugout. However, he got a lending hand from a former Mumbai Indians batter Ambati Rayudu.

MI posted a video on their social media account where Rayudu can be seen showing his support to Pandya as the two had a chat as the former put his hand on the skipper’s shoulders.

“Who do we fall? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up. #MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians | @hardikpandya7,” MI wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Rayudu, earlier, opened up on MI’s bold decision to sack Rohit as their captain which the former batter didn’t support and said they have rushed into replacing him with Pandya.

“This year, Rohit should have continued captaining this year and Hardik, maybe after a year, could have been given that responsibility. Rohit is still captaining India in T2OIs. I personally feel that MI rushed into this decision but probably they know best. So, it will be difficult. Gujarat Titans had a different set-up. Captaining MI is not easy because there are so many star players in the team. There is too much pressure and not everyone can handle it,” Rayudu said in an interview with News24.