Rohit Sharma's supporters called for the arrest of Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya after his awful display in the Indian Premier League (IPL) contest contributed to the franchise's defeat to defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) this week.
Particularly, Hardik Pandya's below-par bowling against MS Dhoni during the concluding stages of their innings earned him the wrath of the legendary Sunil Gavaskar.
Interestingly, Hardik Pandya bowled the final over of CSK's innings to his mentor and ex-India captain MS Dhoni, who belted him for three consecutive sixes. Eventually, MS Dhoni's maximums proved to be the difference between the two sides, as CSK won the game by 20 runs.
“Probably the worst kind of bowling that I've seen for a long, long time. It almost looks like I've had this embrace with my hero. I've got a bowling kind of deliveries that he's gonna hit for sixes. One 6 is fine. The next one again a length ball when you know that this batter is looking for a length ball to hit. The third ball again, a full toss on the leg side and he's looking for it and hits it for a 6. Absolutely ordinary bowling, ordinary captaincy,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
On the other hand, Hardik Pandya's predecessor Rohit Sharma's admirers dubbed the former “Chapri (a person with no sense of responsibility)” before asking the police to register a case against him for hurting the latter's sentiments due to the home team's loss at the Wankhede Stadium.
– Scored mighty 2 runs in 6 ball
– 26 runs in his 20th over, took target from 185 to 206 for CSK
– In last said Mahi bhai behind stump won the match for csk.This chapri hardik should be arrested for wasting one of the Greatest 100 of Rohit and ending El Clasico of IPL !! pic.twitter.com/YLvc0mmopN
— 𝗔𝘆𝘂𝘀𝗵 🇮🇳 (@RofiedAyush) April 14, 2024
Meanwhile, one must not forget that Hardik Pandya's appointment as the leader of the Mumbai Indians has been controversial, to say the least.
After the Mumbai-based franchise announced the sacking of their most successful captain Rohit Sharma, with Hardik Pandya taking over from him in the wake of his arrival from Gujarat Titans, fans reacted to the development so much so that the team lost millions of followers across social media.
While the Mumbai Indians management has backed Hardik Pandya to the hilt, the results of the side in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) haven't gone his way, with the former five-time champions languishing in the bottom three on the table.
Former cricketers have not only raised questions about Hardik Pandya's captaincy but his poor batting and bowling have put extra pressure on him.
Hardik Pandya's overall figures in the IPL 2024 don't look impressive at all – he's managed to score only 131 runs at a mediocre average of 26.20 with the highest score of 36 in the six matches he's played in the tournament so far.
In the bowling department, the Gujarat-born all-rounder has hardly bowled and when he has taken up the ball, he has gone for plenty of runs.
He has picked just three wickets in six games but what would be worrying the Mumbai Indians management is his economy rate. In the 11 overs, Hardik Pandya has bowled, he has been virtually clobbered by opposition batters, allowing them to cherry-pick him for sixes and boundaries. The result is that he has given away runs at 12 per over.
Moreover, the treatment meted out to him by the fans in the IPL, both in Mumbai and elsewhere, seemed to have had an adverse effect on Hardik Pandya's performances.
Wherever he has gone, the fans have booed him with Rohit Sharma chants, reminding everyone that the 37-year-old is still the most loved Mumbai Indians player, not just at the Wankhede Stadium but across India.
Unlike Hardik Pandya, who was below-par in all the departments of the game against CSK, Rohit Sharma came up with a valiant unbeaten century against their greatest rivals in the IPL.
Additionally, Rohit Sharma became the first Indian batter and the fifth overall to reach the milestone of 500 sixes in the 20-over format of the sport.
Rohit Sharma's mega feat came against CSK spinner and his Team India teammate Ravindra Jadeja when he lofted him over the ropes for a maximum on the second ball of the over.
With this, Rohit Sharma joined an elite list of cricketers who have 500 sixes to their names in T20 cricket.
Other than the Nagpur-born batter, the men who have hit 500 sixes in T20 cricket are Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, and New Zealand's Colin Munro.
Among Indians, no other player has even hit 400 sixes in the 20-over format with Virat Kohli lying in second place with 383 maximums to his name.
Despite Rohit Sharma's history-making knock, he was left dejected at the end of the day as he failed to take Mumbai Indians across the finishing line.
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