"Mumbai Indians expect nothing but excellence" - Tom Moody warns Hardik Pandya ahead of IPL 2024

Former Australia National Cricket Team player Tom Moody has issued a warning to star all-rounder Hardik Pandya ahead of his captaincy stint with the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the India Premier League (IPL) 2024.

Hardik has replaced Rohit Sharma at the helm and he will have a big responsibility on his shoulders to bring an IPL title home for Mumbai Indians (MI) after a wait of 3 seasons.

The all-rounder got all the fame and attention while playing for the Mumbai-based franchise in his initial days but he was released by the team ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction. He was subsequently acquired by newcomers Gujarat Titans (GT) and was handed the captaincy as well.

Hardik Pandya did a great job as a leader along with head coach Ashish Nehra and guided his team to the title victory in his debut season as skipper. In the next season (IPL 2023), the Gujarat Titans once again performed quite well and made it to the final of the tournament, eventually losing to CSK.

Despite all his success with GT, he was traded to Mumbai Indians (MI) for INR 15 crore ahead of IPL 2024. Hardik was named the new MI captain while Shubman Gill was handed the leadership role at Gujarat Titans.

Speaking on the Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’, Tom Moody spoke about Mumbai Indians (MI). He said that the veteran opening batsman Rohit Sharma would not change his batting approach after being relieved of his captaincy duties.

“We know what Rohit Sharma is capable of doing and how dangerous he is as a player as he has demonstrated with an Indian shirt on his back. I don’t think the captaincy is going to have any bearing on his approach. I think he will go out and play his brand of cricket. He is very confident and owns his own game,” he said.

Hardik Pandya’s challenge is managing that expectation – Tom Moody

Moody further said that leading Mumbai Indians (MI) will be very challenging for Hardik Pandya as the franchise expects nothing but excellence.

“They (MI) expect nothing but excellence, which is what you will expect of any high-performance environment. So Hardik’s challenge is managing that expectation and allowing himself and his whole team to be able to play with that freedom, without that pressure sort of filtering into the dressing room,” he asserted.

The former Australia cricketer also talked about the premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah and said that his return would make the Mumbai Indians (MI) an even stronger team.

“Jasprit Bumrah in any side, it’s going to be a considerably better side with him in the playing XI than not in the playing XI. So missing a player like Jasprit Bumrah is a massive miss,” he said.

“He can not only take wickets in the powerplay but he has got that incredible ability to close games out at the death. So they are really adding to their strength by having such a world-class bowler fit and available,” he elaborated.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 is set to begin on March 22 with the battle between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Chennai. Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians (MI) will open their campaign against Gujarat Titans (GT) on March 24 in Ahmedabad.