Amid the Hardik Pandya-Rohit Sharma captaincy saga at the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram has come up with a shocking suggestion – insisting that the latter should lead the side for one more year before the former took over from him.

Wasim Akram opined that Mumbai Indians should have continued with Rohit Sharma as captain for another year before handing over the reins of the team to Hardik Pandya.

“In franchise cricket, such things happen. Look at how CSK took the captaincy decision in the long run, and maybe even they (MI) had the same idea. This was not a personal decision, but in my view, Rohit Sharma should have continued as captain for one more year. Perhaps Hardik Pandya could have been the captain next year,” Wasim Akram told Sportskeeda.

Previously, Wasim Akram lashed out at the Indian fans for their treatment of Hardik Pandya in the IPL.

“This is the problem in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. We never forget. We tell our kids that when Pandya's kid is born, you have to remind him why he became captain 20 years ago. We don't move on,” Wasim Akram reckoned.

“I think fans need to be a little calm. At the end of the day, he is your player. He plays for Mumbai Indians, and he is the one who can make you win. They still can qualify for the IPL 2024 playoffs. There is no point booing your own player. You can criticize a little bit, but move on,” Wasim Akram added.

One must remember that Hardik Pandya was named as the captain of the Mumbai Indians ahead of the 17th edition of the IPL, replacing the much-loved Rohit Sharma from that position.

Since then, fans have been giving an extremely harsh reception to Hardik Pandya during MI's IPL fixtures across the country, with the 30-year-old cricketer facing boos and even expletives on occasions.

Former cricketers previously said that such kind of behavior was taking a mental toll on Hardik Pandya who thrives on a positive vibe inside the stadium.

Moreover, he has been woefully out of form – both with bat and the ball, with some reports suggesting that his World Cup spot was under immense threat because of Shivam Dube's heroics in the elite T20 competition.

He's managed to score only 151 runs at a mediocre average of 21.57 with the highest score of 39 in the eight 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.

Hardik Pandya has picked just four wickets in eight games but what would be worrying the Mumbai Indians management is his economy rate. In the 17 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 almost 11 per over.

Recent reports suggest that Hardik Pandya could be in danger of losing his place in the squad for the forthcoming T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the US.

India's T20 World Cup team is expected to be named on April 28-29 when the national selection committee will meet in Delhi following the arrival of Ajit Agarkar from his holidays, with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder Shivam Dube predicted to take place in the Rohit Sharma-led side.

Meanwhile, former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist hit out at Hardik Pandya for showcasing “false bravado” and “fake hustle” on the field amid the franchise's poor run in the IPL.

“For me, the body language was horrible. If I'm the owner or the coach of that team, I'm watching and observing that. I'm going to say, ‘I want answers.' It's cricket! You're paid professionals! I don't want to see laughter. I want to know if that means a bit to you. I don't want to see that jovialness and ‘I don't care' attitude,” Gilchrist said on Cricbuzz.

“You don't want fake hustle. You don't want people putting in effort as if they're trying hard. It's false bravado. It looks a bit manufactured at the moment,” the former Australian wicketkeeper-batter elaborated.

“I am not seeing him (Hardik) strategically getting it right. I think some batting positional changes, some bowling changes at certain times, just overall strategy, I don't think as captain he's quite got it right,” Adam Gilchrist noted.

New Zealand's Simon Doull expressed that Hardik Pandya still had a lot of work to do before he emerged as a successful Mumbai Indians skipper.

“It is a tough thing to come and take over a franchise that is so storied and successful. He obviously had good captaincy skills at Gujarat, you don't lose those. I think he is growing into it but he's still got work to do,” Simon Doull concluded.