Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has come in support of Hardik Pandya after the Mumbai Indians skipper continues to face the heat from the cricket fans in the Indian Premier League. Pandya has been facing scrutiny since taking over the charge of Mumbai Indians as skipper on his return to the franchise after two years. The loyal MI fans were not impressed with the management’s decision to sack Rohit Sharma – who led them to five IPL titles, as a result, Pandya was booed by the spectators in the last three matches including the home venue at Wankhede Stadium.
Mumbai‘s start to the season added misery to Pandya‘s case as they have failed to win any matches thus far and sitting at the bottom of the table with three losses in as many games.
However, Shastri, who is very vocal about his views and opinions, came in support of MI and Pandya and asked fans to be calm towards the all-rounder as it might affect his mental health.
“You have supported the team over the years. In just 2-3 matches, they won’t be a bad team. They are 5-time champions, after all, they have a new captain. Just be patient, you know the bloke you’re getting after is a human being like you. At the end of the day, he has to sleep in the night. So just think about it, be calm,” Ravi Shastri told Star Sports.
The former India head coach advised Pandya to remain calm and patient and suggested that everything would change when they start winning matches.
“My thing to Hardik would be ‘calm, patient, ignore and then just focus on your game’. You get a couple of performances going..they are a terrific side, if they win 3-4 matches, everything will subside. You will, things will change,” he added.
Meanwhile, Shastri didn’t completely blame the bosses at MI for sacking Rohit and said they were entitled to decide on their team’s skipper.
“See, at the end of the day, this is not an Indian cricket team that is playing. This is franchise cricket. They have paid top dollar, they are the bosses. It’s their entitlement as to who they want as captain,” Shastri said.
However, the 61-year-old asserted that the communication would have been better about the change in captaincy which might have worked in Pandya’s favour.
“Where I think this could have been handled better is more clarity in communication. If you wanted as captain, say you’re looking at the future, looking to build, we are doing a fabulous job as every one knows and we want him to help out Hardik in the next 3 years when the team is in progress. That communication should have come out a little more for all this to die down. It’s not a case of you saying ‘we don’t want Rohit Sharma’, or he was treated badly,” he added.
Pandya has been attacked on social media with hate comments and derogatory remarks as Shastri also talked about it.
“You know social media. All sorts of things will come out, there are a lot of bullcrap out there. Some of the stories out there are planted. It’s just planted on other people’s names. Ignorance is bliss,” he added.
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