Six-time IPL champion Ambati Rayudu and former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar talk about the leadership qualities of MI legend Rohit Sharma and MI captain Hardik Pandya. Following a hard loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Wankhede Stadium, the Mumbai Indians’ season is once again not looking good.
With just one victory and four losses, the Mumbai Indians are now ranked ninth in the tournament’s points standings. There has been much discussion among analysts over the roles of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya. Two cricket analysts got into a heated argument on a recent episode of ESPNcricinfo Timeout.
Given that Rohit Sharma is frequently employed as an impact player, Sanjay Bangar raised the possibility that the team’s performance may be suffering as a result of his absence from the pitch during the conversation. The former wicketkeeper-batter responded by saying that Rohit’s leadership style doesn’t rely too much on outside opinions and that the Indian captain doesn’t need regular feedback from others. In order to emphasise his leadership abilities, Bangar also subtly made fun of Ambati Rayudu during this interaction by bringing up his time as an IPL captain.
“Rayudu, I have a question for you. I also believe that MI is suffering from a leadership perspective because Rohit could likely provide Hardik with the appropriate inputs if he were on the pitch,” Bangar added.
“Hardik doesn’t require input, in my opinion. To be honest, Sanjay Bhai, a captain must be left alone. You can’t have ten individuals in his year like you did last year; it’s his team and his influence. Nobody wants to be in Rohit’s year as captain of India since he is the captain. You ought to do the same with Hardik Pandya in this case. I think the captain ought to be left alone,” Ambati Rayudu told Bangar.
Since you had never been the captain of an IPL squad, it was a little odd for you. If my recollection is correct, this man has guided the IPL to several championships. The former Indian player responds.
However, Sanjay Bangar is no longer the captain.
He is no longer the captain. It’s the team of Hardik. So let’s avoid that argument. Rohit is an excellent captain and leader. Everyone knows that. However, it is the team of Hardik Pandya. And he’ll do whatever he thinks is appropriate. Rayudu said, “I can always send a message, or Rohit’s inputs can always come through a substitute fielder.”
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Regarding Hardik Pandya’s time as MI captain, he has coached the team in 19 games thus far, winning five of them and losing 14 of them, for a meagre 35.71% win percentage. This contrasts with his leadership record with the Gujarat Titans (GT), when he captained the team successfully in 2022 and 2023.
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