"Hardik Pandya deserves better"- Mark Boucher reignites Rohit Sharma and his wife

Allrounder Hardik Pandya had a tough time in IPL 2024 both on and off the field. However, he came back from the disappointment and has been constantly putting in some incredible performances since that point.

Former South Africa wicketkeeper Mark Boucher was Mumbai Indians' head coach when Hardik Pandya had to deal with all those unwanted things last year. Boucher is someone who saw Pandya closely during those times as the latter was enduring a difficult phase of his career.

Recently, he spoke about those tough times and lauded Pandya for dealing with them expertly and coming out on top. He labeled Hardik as someone having a tough character and praised him for overcoming all the difficulties.

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Mark Boucher on Hardik Pandya's tough IPL 2024

While speaking as a JioStar expert, Mark Boucher opened up on the difficult times that Hardik Pandya faced last year and felt that it shouldn't have happened to him at all.

“It was really tough for him last season. He was being booed by the crowd every time he took the field, he deserves better, he deserves 100 percent respect. A cricketer never wants such a thing to happen with him,” Boucher mentioned.

Hardik Pandya was constantly booed last year wherever he went across different stadiums. At one point, the commentator Sanjay Manjrekar even had to tell the crowd to "behave" when the situation was getting out of hand.

However, the allrounder maintained his composure. Although he didn't have a great year as a player and as a captain, he was trusted with the captaincy this year and will be looking to turn things around for his franchise.

Mark Boucher hails "battle-hardened" Hardik Pandya

Boucher praised Hardik's mental strength and claimed that he had achieved success after being through tough times himself. He believes that IPL is better when Hardik Pandya is playing on the field and the tournament needs him.

“He (Hardik) is a battle-hardened cricketer. He has been through tough times, injuries, form, many things but he overcame everything and achieved success," the former MI head coach said.

"The greats of cricket have to be tough, and he has shown that. IPL is better with Hardik on the field, the game of cricket is better with Hardik on the field,” Boucher added.

Hardik was trolled as the fans didn't like the idea of him replacing Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians' captain. The fans wanted to see Rohit back as their captain but the MI team management was more focused towards transition.

Hardik Pandya's superb comeback

After a poor season last year, Pandya played starring roles in India's title-winning run in two top ICC events. In the T20 World Cup 2024, he performed with both bat and ball and also bowled the last over to take India to a historic win.

In the recently concluded Champions Trophy, Hardik was excellent as a finisher and with the ball in hand. He has managed his workload well after the injury during the ODI World Cup 2023 which has helped him play most of the important games.

Mumbai Indians will open their IPL 2025 campaign with an away game against Chennai Super Kings on March 23. They haven't been great starters over the years but will be aiming to start their campaign on a high this time around.