Rohit Sharma, Seniors BLAME Hardik Pandya Captaincy For Mumbai Indians' Poor IPL 2024 Season: Report

Mumbai Indians have had a terrible season in the IPL 2024, as they have become the first side to be officially eliminated from the competition. This comes as a big surprise as the side comprises of some of the best players in the world, and were expected to finish in the playoffs at least. In the 12 matches that they have played till now, they have won just 4 games and lost 8 points and hence languish in the 9th spot. The team underwent a huge change before the start of the IPL, with Hardik Pandya being named the captain replacing 5-time IPL winning skipper Rohit Sharma. Now, it looks like there is certainly some tension within the team reportedly.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the senior members of the Mumbai Indians met for a meal with the coaching staff and conveyed the message that there is a lack of buzz in the dressing room, and the reason is the captaincy of Hardik Pandya. The Indian players in the meeting included the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah according to the report. There have also been one on one interactions between the senior players and the team management.

Hardik Pandya was traded in for Rs 15 crore by the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2024 trade window from the Gujarat Titans, and was made captain. The decision to remove Rohit Sharma, who is the joint-most successful captain in IPL history, caused a lot of uproar among fans, and Pandya even received a lot of boos from the crowd.

According to a Mumbai Indians official, this is nothing serious, but a team coming to terms in a change in leadership following the 10-year tenure of Rohit Sharma.

“These are regular teething problems for a team that sees leadership change. This happens in sports all the time,” he said.

According to the report, the first signs of discontent in the dressing room were made loud and clear when Hardik Pandya put the blame of loss against Delhi Capitals on the shoulders of Tilak Varma. Incidentally, Tilak is MI's top-scorer in IPL 2024. The team did not like the blame of the loss being put on one player.

“When Axar Patel was bowling to a left-hander (Tilak), the better option could have been to go after him. I think it was just a little game awareness that we missed out on. At the end of the day, that cost us the game,” Hardik said in the post-match interview.

The report also states that the Mumbai Indians' owners and team management will take stock of the situation and if needed will take a call keeping in mind the future of the team.