Hardik Pandya was extremely poor as captain vs GT? Wasim Jaffer drops blunt verdict

Former Indian batsman Wasim Jaffer feels that Hardik Pandya did most of the things right in his first time leading the Mumbai Indians in an IPL match last night against Gujarat Titans. MI had traveled to Ahmedabad for the away game and it was the first time since his infamous move back to Mumbai that Pandya returned to his former home ground at the Narendra Modi stadium.

Hardik Pandya was not given a warm or respectful reception let alone a grand welcome back from the crowd there in Ahmedabad who had nothing but loud boos and jeers. Whether he was standing in the middle for the coin toss, when he came to bowl the first over, or when he came to bat in 2nd innings, all that Pandya received was lethal trolling.

His tenure as the new MI captain started in the old-fashioned way as even he could not help the team win its first match of an IPL season, a curse which has been in effect since the 2013 season. The last time Mumbai won their opening fixture of a new season was back in 2012, a season before they landed their first title. But how was Hardik Pandya’s captaincy overall? Wasim Jaffer described that in 20 seconds.

Wasim Jaffer says Hardik Pandya sending Tim David at number 5 was the only mistake he made

In an exclusive chat with ESPNcricinfo, after Gujarat Titans registered the 6-run victory over Mumbai Indians, Wasim Jaffer was asked to shed light on Hardik Pandya’s captaincy. The host had given him a time of only 20 seconds to respond and Jaffer in his ever blunt way, claimed that he liked the way Pandya handled the team.

The Ranji Trophy legend claimed that the only thing Pandya did wrong was to send Tim David at number 5 instead of coming to bat in that position himself. Jaffer also pointed out that Hardik could have also let their new pace recruitment Luke Wood bowl a few more overs with the new ball than he did.

Lastly, Wasim Jaffer agreed to the point that MI were actually favorites to win the game as they were on top of things until that Tim David mistake and that Hardik and Co. “messed” the game up through their own mistakes.

“I think other than promoting himself ahead of Tim David, I think he did most thing right. Probably should have bowled Luke Wood with the new ball a little more. He bowled one overs too many. But other than that I thought they had the game in their hand. They messed it up themselves,” Wasim Jaffer said via ESPNcricinfo.

MI fans, first thoughts on Hardik Pandya as skipper… #TimeOut #IPL2024 #GTvMI pic.twitter.com/dp58o6zVMV

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) March 25, 2024

Hardik Pandya says he is happy to be back at the Narendra Modi stadium

Despite being jeered and booed continuously by the crowd, Hardik Pandya said after the match that he felt good on his return to the Narendra Modi stadium. He said that he enjoyed the atmosphere over there, called it lively, and was happy with the way the game panned out.

“It feels good to be back because this is one stadium where you can enjoy and feel the atmosphere quite lively and obviously the crowd was full and they got a good game as well.” – Hardik Pandya said after the match.