Hardik Pandya Sent Brutal Message Amid Poor IPL Form: "Wants To Stay Behind"
Sadagoppan Ramesh took aim at Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya and said that the all-rounder has not been proactive enough to solve his team's problems in the ongoing IPL 2026.
Former Indian cricket team batter Sadagoppan Ramesh took aim at Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya and said that the all-rounder has not been proactive enough to solve his team's problems in the ongoing IPL 2026. The five-time champions are on the verge of elimination after winning just two out of their nine matches in the competition. Hardik has also failed to perform with both bat and ball, as the MI captain has scored just 146 runs and taken just four wickets. Ramesh feels that the players need their captain to lead by example and pointed out that Hardik has been hesitant in using himself in tough situations.
"He wants to stay behind and let others fix the problems. The players in a team are very clever. They'll know if a captain is actually leading them from the front or hiding behind. If you stay behind as a captain, the players will never give it their all for you," Ramesh said on Star Sports Tamil.
"It's one thing to fail as a player, but Hardik as a captain is not stepping up in crises. Instead, he sends different people to right the wrong before coming himself. You are defending only 160, and you come in to bowl after 85 runs have been scored. This is a guy who won India the World Cup under Rohit by bowling the crucial overs. Rohit used Hardik beautifully in crises. Hardik himself used to do it for GT, but for MI, he isn't doing it," he added.
Ramesh also slammed Suryakumar Yadav for his poor form before pointing out that Hardik's failures have somewhat stayed hidden amid the slew of bad results.
"Hardik Pandya gets two chances in a game, with bat and ball. Many point to Suryakumar Yadav's failures to defend Hardik. While Surya is failing with the bat, Hardik is failing in batting and bowling. His strike rate is terrible in this IPL, and he has also leaked runs with the ball," said Ramesh.
"Hardik Pandya is also using the bowlers poorly in the powerplay," he added.
Mumbai Indians
Lucknow Super Giants
Hardik Pandya