DC vs MI: 'Rohit Sharma is my captain' - Irfan Pathan decimates Hardik Pandya with outrageous claim

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who is extremely vocal with his thoughts be it on X or the commentary box, decimated Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya. The former player brought up the viral incident which took place during MI's victory over Punjab Kings a few days ago. Therein, seamer Akash Madhwal was seen ignoring Pandya and taking instructions from former captain Rohit Sharma before bowling the 20th over of the match.

The video of Akash Madhwal side-eyeing Hardik Pandya and paying attention to Rohit Sharma went absolutely viral on Instagram, Facebook, and X. This also speaks volumes about the co-ordination that Pandya has with the young and new players, who are still in the bubble that Rohit is their captain. That's what exactly Irfan Pathan was trying to convey yesterday while commentating during the match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians at the Sawai Mansingh stadium.

Irfan Pathan claims that MI players don't have confidence in Hardik Pandya

While seeing Hardik Pandya finding it tough to defend a 180+ total against Rajasthan Royals last night, Irfan Pathan kind of added salt to the all-rounder's wounds. Pathan started describing the way Akash Madhwal ignored Pandya before bowling the final over of the match in order to carefully understand the inputs of Rohit Sharma. Pathan also highlighted the way Madhwal side-eyed Pandya and how he was looking at Rohit and only cared about him during the conversation.

According to Irfan Pathan, these types of situations occur only when players in the team do not have confidence in their captain and consider someone else as the leader. While this definitely is an alarming sign for Hardik, who reached the finals of IPL consecutively in his first two full seasons as captain of Gujarat Titans, Pathan feels that the all-rounder can turn it around for good.

"In the previous match, there was a very interesting situation that unfolded. Before the final over, Rohit Sharma, Akash Madhwal and Hardik Pandya were standing together. It was a full-on pressure situation. Akash Madhwal was only looking at Rohit Sharma. Only talking to him as to what sort of field to set."

"Now that happens when you have confidence that 'This guy (Rohit], not the other one [Hardik] is my captain. This thing needs to change which I feel Hardik can," Irfan Pathan said on air via Star Sports Hindi.

Pathan expresses worry about Pandya's poor form