Mumbai Indian’s (MI) run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 ended after a defeat at the hands of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Friday.
The five-time IPL winners ended up at the bottom of the points table after winning only four of their 14 matches.
The Mumbai Indians have been under constant scrutiny and jeering from the fans this season and their captain Hardik Pandya has been the most targeted after he was traded from Gujrat Titans and made captain of MI. Pandya had taken the Titans to the final of IPL 2023 but the team ended as runners-up.
Mark Boucher has admitted that the team’s performance lacked but it was partly due to the fan pressure put on Pandya.
The lack of support for Pandya was visible in MI’s last match on Friday against LSG when Sharma was benched but came in as an impact player. When Pandya came into the bowl, he was met with chants of Rohit’s name and when Rohit was dismissed, the Wankhede Stadium was in complete pin-drop silence.
When Hardik came into bat, he was met with boos and Boucher was not a fan of it.
"It wasn't great hearing all the boos," Boucher said. "Certainly, I felt sorry for Hardik as well. It's never nice to go through something like that. So yeah, there are certain things we need to address. And we are going to address them.”
It should be noted that Pandya’s performance in the tournament was below par as well. He managed to score just 216 runs in 13 innings at a low average of 18 and his performance with the ball wasn’t good as well with just 11 wickets in 12 innings.
Boucher commented that Pandya’s performance was also affected by the off-field scenario just as his captaincy was affected.
"I think that if [Hardik] was here, he'd also be disappointed in his performances," he said. "From a captain's perspective, I thought he had some good games. There's a lot of stuff going on around him that maybe clouded his thoughts every now and again, which I said is tough for him as a leader as well.”
Although Pandya had a rough season, Boucher has hope for him that he will become a good leader with time as he grows.
"While times are tough now, a couple of things will pass and make him a tougher leader and it will certainly grow him in the role as well. I still think there are some fantastic things coming from Hardik Pandya as a leader."
The Mumbai Indians had been led by Rohit Sharma since 2013 and the franchise won five titles under the former captain’s leadership. It is understandable that the MI fans would want to see him continue as captain but he was removed before IPL 2024 so that he could play freely without the pressure of captaincy on his shoulders.
- Hardik Pandya