Wasim Akram defends Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya amid poor performance
Former Pakistani Captain and fast bowler great, Wasim Akram defends Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya as he is surrounded by critics and trolls.
Ever since Pandya has been named as captain of Mumbai Indians, replacing Rohit Sharma, he has been facing extreme criticism.
Mostly due to the poor performance of his team. Mumbai Indians have only won three matches in this edition and their chances to qualify for the semifinals are shrinking.
In many of the stadiums, Pandya has been found by fans and faces their constant criticism and trolling.
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Wasim Akram, albeit being in favor of Rohit Sharma continuing as captain, came in to defend Pandya.
“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,” Akram said while speaking to Sportskeeda.
It Is right that fans of these countries do not accept decisions of changes lightly.
As he is still in favor of Sharma as captain, he has said,
“In franchise cricket, such things happen. Look at how CSK took the captaincy decision for 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, next year, Hardik Pandya could have been the captain,” Akram said.
It is widely known that Hardik Pandya deals with mental health issues. Robin Uthappa, former Indian cricketer revealed that,
“The mocking, trolling, the memes about his [Pandya] fitness. You don’t think it hurts him? It hurts him. It hurts any human being. How many people know the reality of it? Hardik is dealing with mental health issues, for sure,” Uthappa had said.
