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NEW DELHI: Hardik Pandya‘s return to the Mumbai Indians as captain in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2024 hasn’t gone as smoothly as expected, with the team currently languishing at eighth place in the points table with only one win in four matches.
The all-rounder, who rejoined MI in a surprise transfer ahead of last year’s auction after being released in 2022, enjoyed a successful stint with the Gujarat Titans, leading them to the IPL title in their debut season and securing a runners-up finish.
Replacing the veteran Rohit Sharma as skipper, Pandya faces the challenge of building momentum for MI in the upcoming fixtures. His IPL captaincy assumes added significance as he is touted as India’s future leader, a sentiment reiterated by former player Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Speaking to India Today, Sidhu dubbed Pandya ‘the future’ of Indian cricket and labeled him a ‘natural choice’ for leadership roles.
“Hardik Pandya is the future,” said Sidhu. “Rohit is now around 36-37. He has a couple more years left. He is a superb captain and a wonderful player. But, you have to actually look forward and prepare the ground for someone to take over.”
Sidhu emphasized Pandya’s credentials for white-ball captaincy, citing his previous stint as India’s vice-captain in T20Is during Rohit’s absence.
“Hardik is your natural choice. That’s why BCCI has named him the team’s vice-captain,” Sidhu added.
Additionally, Sidhu backed pacer Jasprit Bumrah for Test cricket captaincy, lauding his performance and resilience.
“Jasprit Bumrah has been handling expectations wonderfully well,” Sidhu remarked. “He was the natural choice for vice-captain. You can have Jasprit Bumrah as Test match captain.”
MI are set to face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their upcoming fixture, with all eyes on Pandya as he aims to guide his team to back-to-back wins and revive their IPL 2024 campaign.
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