 "Hardik Pandya has been having a torrid run as Mumbai Indians captain after leading Gujarat Titans to back-to-back finals in the IPL. AP")
Hardik Pandya has been having a torrid run in his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) season as Mumbai Indians (MI) captain, failing to replicate the success that he had as Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper.
After leading GT to back-to-back finals, including the title on debut in 2022, Pandya finds himself facing a deluge of criticism following his high-profile return to MI, with the five-time champions currently lying at the bottom of the IPL 2024 points table with eight defeats in 11 outings.
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Mumbai aren’t officially out of the playoffs race just yet, but will be should they end up losing against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday, which will be their fifth defeat on the trot.
Ahead of MI’s second meeting of the season with SRH, Pandya opened up on his struggles as leader this season and emphasised on the importance of learning from one’s mistakes during a chat with Star Sports. Pandya also made special mention of former India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni during the pre-match conversation.
“Responsibility-wise, I was always someone who wanted responsibilty because when you own your things, it kind of becomes more personal to you. So for me, it was always about owning my mistake and at the same point of time taking those chances, maybe failing and learning,” the all-rounder told the broadcaster.
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View All“That experience no one can teach you — not your closest aide, not your idol, to some extent not even Mahi Bhai (MS Dhoni) when he was around.
“Some failures you experience and then learn. Because of that, I think, I started understanding what are the roles and what are the roles I am good at, how I can get better at that,” Pandya added.
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Pandya will be making his return to the Indian team for the first time since last year’s ODI World Cup during the T20 World Cup next month, with the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee naming the all-rounder skipper Rohit Sharma’s deputy while unveiling the squad last week.