Gautam Gambhir recently hit back at the critics of Hardik Pandya’s captaincy in the ongoing IPL 2024 questioning the ‘experts’ own leadership credentials. Five-time IPL winners Mumbai Indians who appointed Pandya as captain ahead of the season, have been off-colour throughout resulting in an early elimination from the playoffs race.
When former India captain Gautam Gambhir was asked about the criticism of Pandya from the likes of Kevin Pietersen and AB de Villiers, he said their tune would have been quite different if MI weren’t having a bad season.
“Experts will keep on saying something,” Gambhir said on Sportskeeda. “For me, the captaincy is judged on the basis of performances. If Mumbai Indians were doing well, these same experts would be lauding him. If this same setup ends up performing well next year, the opinions will be opposite and become the headlines.”
Pandya had left MI ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction and joined Gujarat Titans, a franchise whom he led to two finals in a row, winning the title on first attempt. After two fruitful seasons, he returned to MI as captain.
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Gambhir defended Pandya saying the allrounder should be given more time since it takes time for a player from a different franchise to get accustomed to a different setup.
“We have to realise Hardik Pandya came from a different franchise and it takes time (to deliver),” Gambhir said. “Give him some time. To expect he will instantly deliver, it’s not that he cannot, he can. Judging him every match, every little step isn’t right.”
“I don’t think Kevin Pietersen or AB de Villiers had any notable performances as a leader. Check their records. I don’t think ABD ever captained in IPL or achieved as a leader apart from his own scores. Hardik Pandya is still an IPL winning captain. So only compare oranges to oranges, not apple to oranges,” he added.
He’s not wrong. I was a terrible captain!!! @GautamGambhir— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) May 14, 2024
Pietersen has responded to the criticism by admitting he wasn’t a good captain.
“He’s not wrong. I was a terrible captain!!!” Pietersen wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Meanwhile, De Villiers has defended his comments on Pandya by slamming media for portraying them out of context.
“I see there is a lot of activity on X about the comments I made about Hardik Pandya and Mumbai Indians. And it’s a shame that journalism and reporting has got so low (laughs). And I am very happy that some of you have pointed it out, taking some of those comments out and leaving the rest,” De Villiers said in a clip he shared on social media.
“I very clearly stated and I will state this again – I absolutely love the way Hardik Pandya plays his game. I love the way he captains. All I can say is, his style of captaincy is something that he has certainly worked on. It’s not something that you can just walk out of the door and you are a brave captain,” he added.
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