Hardik Pandya doesn't need Rohit Sharma, can win matches on his own, feels Virender Sehwag

Hardik Pandya could not make a winning start to his captaincy journey with Mumbai Indians. The India allrounder played his first game as MI captain last week when the five-time champions locked horns against Gujarat Titans.

MI lost the game by six runs while chasing 169 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The Mumbai-based outfit were comfortably placed at 121 for 3 after 14 overs and needed 48 runs in 36 balls. The win looked like a mere formality at that stage. However, MI failed to finish the game and eventually ended their innings on 162 for 9.

With 19 runs needed off the final over, Hardik Pandya put MI in the driver’s seat. The MI skipper hit the first two deliveries from Umesh Yadav for a six and four to bring down the equation to 9 from 4. However, he was dismissed on the third ball and MI managed to score only two singles on the remaining three deliveries.

Virender Sehwag’s advice for Hardik Pandya:

Apart from MI’s loss, Hardik Pandya’s batting position has also garnered a lot of attention. The all-rounder batted at number four for Gujarat Titans in the last two seasons of the IPL and did well. In two seasons, he scored over 800 runs. In 2022, Pandya enjoyed his most prolific season with the bat, scoring 487 runs before scoring 346 runs in 2023.

However, he surprisingly decided against batting at number four for MI in their first game of IPL 2024. The right-handed batsman walked out to bat at number seven when only two overs were left. He could face only four balls and was dismissed for 11. And as Hardik Pandya looks to make an impact in his first season with MI as a captain, former India opener Virender Sehwag has advised him to bat at no. 4.

“I think he should bat at no.4. He has played at no.4 for two years at GT. If not 4, he should play at 5. When he will come to bat, there will be spinners in place. And spinners always have a fear for players who can hit sixes. Hardik has the ability to smash sixes with ease. He can win the match on his own if he comes to bat at that number,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.