Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya admitted it was challenging for him to lead the franchise in IPL 2024. After leading Gujarat Titans to glory in IPL 2022 and to the runners-up position in the following season, Pandya made a return to Mumbai Indians and also replaced Rohit Sharma as a leader.
But Pandya was given a tough time on the ground as he was booed by the Ahmedabad crowd as well as Mumbai’s fans. MI finished as the cellar dwellers of the tournament, managing only four wins in 14 matches of the league phase.
Pandya also could not deliver with either bat or ball and it was a disappointing season for him. However, the all-rounder was able to turn the tables as he was at his absolute best in the T20 World Cup 2024. In the summit clash against South Africa, Pandya got the big wicket of Heinrich Klaasen and then got rid of David Miller in the final over.
Hardik Pandya said on JioStar, “It’s always about when you don’t leave the battlefield. For me, it was about surviving, maybe not winning. That year was a year where, for the longest time, I had to hold my ground, not leave the battlefield which was the ground. I realised how everything was panning out, that cricket will be my best friend, and he will get me out of it.”
“Yeah, it kept, I kept pushing, kept pushing. And I think when all the hard work and everything came, I don’t think I wouldn’t be able to write a script, which it turned out to be in my life. That six months of my phase where winning the World Cup and coming back and getting the kind of love we got. I think it was a complete 360 turnaround for me.
“And I think cricket was something which I knew that if I be persistent, if I be honest with my work, if I be really hardworking, I think I’ll be able to come out of this. But when I didn’t know, as exactly said, it was written in the script by the God where it turned out to be two and a half months.”
Meanwhile, Pandya revealed that the goal of the franchise for the IPL 2025 mega auction was to aim for experienced bowlers.
“This year, the goal was to get experience. I think you can see from the whole sheet where we wanted experienced bowling attack. Because Wankhede is where you get checked, and it can be quite intimidating playing in IPL in Mumbai, in Wankhede,” said Hardik.
“And the wickets are generally high-scoring. So we wanted to focus on people who have a lot of experience at the same point of time, who have the swing, who have the bounce on that track, which we can get the most out of. And I think somehow we have, we have made a very gun team where top to bottom we have been able to fulfill. It’s just that we all have to turn up now.”
MI will begin their IPL 2025 campaign against CSK at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on 23rd March.
