Irfan Pathan has expressed disappointment with the leadership of Mumbai Indians during the IPL 2024 season, criticizing the team’s performance under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya. Mumbai Indians, the five-time IPL champions, have struggled this season, facing their seventh defeat in 10 matches after a loss to Lucknow Super Giants.
Pathan pointed out, “The team Mumbai Indians that qualified last year didn’t had Jasprit Bumrah but this season they had his services. Still they are in this situation. Purely because the team wasn’t managed well on the ground. Too many mistakes by their captain Hardik Pandya. It’s the truth.”
Despite scattered contributions from players like former captain Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma with the bat, Mumbai Indians have lacked collective efforts from other batters. Jasprit Bumrah has been a standout performer with the ball, but the team has struggled to find its rhythm and secure victories.
“What I feel about Hardik Pandya is that Indian cricket needs to make it clear that they should not give him that much priority as they have given him so far, because we still haven’t won the World Cup. And if you think you are a primary all-rounder, you need to make that kind of an impact at the international level. As far as the all-rounder is concerned, he hasn’t made that impact at the international level, we are only thinking about the potential. We are getting confused between the IPL performances and the international performances. That’s a big difference,” Irfan spoke Star Sports.
The criticism from Pathan comes at a crucial juncture for Mumbai Indians, as they are on the brink of elimination from the playoff race. With only four games remaining in the season, Mumbai Indians are currently ninth in the table, four points away from the fourth-placed Chennai Super Kings.
It remains to be seen if Mumbai Indians can turn their fortunes around in the remaining matches and secure a spot in the playoffs.
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