He was a rising star himself, showing glimpses of his prowess in 2015. His cameos in the lower order played their part Mumbai IndiansWon the award in 2017. By 2019, he had become a household name and was one of the leading all-rounders of the tournament and the MVP for MI as he lifted his fourth IPL trophy. Although a back injury will prevent him from rolling next season, his X-factor with the bat and his contribution in the big matches will be central to MI being crowned champions for the fifth time in 2020. In 2021 but after silencing his opponents leading Gujarat Titans to the title in 2022, he propelled them back to the finals last season.
Hardik Pandya Returned to MI ahead of the 2024 season but his second homecoming wasn’t exactly a bed of roses on and off the field. While Hardik – the new MI captain – faced hostile crowds in both Mumbai and Ahmedabad, his leadership and tactics on the field were questionable. Furthermore, while Hardik – an all-rounder has failed to deliver this season – seems to have lost the X-factor in his batting, his bowling has been inconsistent while leaking runs in both the powerplay and the death.
No match-winning performances and lack of clarity in the batting role
Hardik Pandya has scored 131 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 145.6 with two complete failures and two more low performances with the bat this season. Needing 27 runs off the last two overs against the Titans, they failed to close out the match. Hardik – Batter of the Year 2017-2020 would have sealed the match nine times out of 10 for MI!
Hardik pushed himself to No. 5 against Sunrisers and walked out to bat at 150 for 3 in the 11th over when MI’s scoring rate of 14.06 was higher than the asking rate of 13.7. Yes, it was a tall order to smash the highest total in IPL history but every other MI batsman, except Hardik, made a run for it. The MI skipper, on the other hand, seems completely out of it. He was dismissed for 24 off 20 balls which means he scored at a strike rate of 120, when he came into the middle the required strike rate was 228.6! Just for perspective, the collective strike rate of the other MI batters in the innings was 208.9!
Hardik again changed his batting position and scored just 39 runs off 33 balls against the Capitals at number 4. MI Batters who have faced at least 10 balls in an innings. Just for perspective, he had strike rates ranging from 181.5 to 390!
Against CSK in their own stronghold at the Wankhede, Hardik couldn’t take MI home from a strong position – when he partnered Rohit Sharma in the middle MI needed 77 off 12.5 balls. By the time he was dismissed for just two off six balls in the 16th over, the required rate had risen to 16.2!
Hardik produced a cameo (6-ball 21) in the chase against RCB but the match was already sealed by the MI top 3 and the skipper was needed to complete the formalities without any real scoreboard pressure.
Hardik’s ‘best’ performance in the competition came in the loss against the Royals, when he exited at 20 for 4 and counter-attacked with 34 off 21 balls. Even in that encounter, the timing of his dismissal and his shot selection raised some eyebrows – he put on 56 with Tilak Verma and had to bat deep to take MI to a respectable total. Instead, the best spinner of the tournament, Yuzvendra Chahal, decided to club him and perished in the process.
Hardik hasn’t given a single standout performance with the bat this season. He had three chances where he could have made a difference but failed. The X-factor in his batting that threatened the best bowling attacks was missing in this edition. He has lost his hitting prowess in the middle and lower order and not surprisingly has the lowest strike rate among all the MI batters in the tournament. Adding to his batting woes is the lack of clarity in his role in the line-up. Hardik has batted in four different positions and seems to be caught between playing an anchor/playmaker role (as he successfully did for the Titans in 2022) and an attacking role.
Hardik – Bowler – Unstable and expensive
Hardik has been a nightmare with the ball this season too. He bowled 11 overs in four innings and took just three wickets. His bowling average of 44 puts him in the bottom 5 on the list of pacers in the tournament (min.10 overs) and his economy rate of 12 makes him the second most expensive fast bowler in the competition after Onrich Nortje.
Despite having Jasprit Bumrah – World’s best limited-overs bowler – In XI, Hardik took the new ball himself in MI’s opening clash against the Titans and scored 20 runs in his two overs in the powerplay. He didn’t learn from his mistakes and blasphemed for the second time against Sunrisers, again not opening the attack with Bumrah. Instead, he shared the new ball with Kwena Mafaka and was tonked by Travis Head as SRH made 81 in the powerplay. The rest is history!
To make matters worse, Hardik did not bowl in the next two matches against Royals and Capitals, fueling injury speculation. He bowled just one over against the challengers and scored 13 runs. Despite having an economy rate of 11.6 in the death overs (and 13.2 in the 20th over), Hardik opted to bowl the last over of the innings against Shivam Dubey and MS Dhoni. And Long took it to his master cleaners with length deliveries and full tosses on the stumps! From keeping CSK to a manageable 190-195, MI let them off the hook and were chasing a 200-plus total – in the final analysis, those extra 15 runs off the last over proved to be the difference between the two teams.
As things stand, MI are 8th in the table with four losses from six matches. Hardik is under pressure. A bad spell at the helm could not only jeopardize his future as MI’s long-term captain but also raise serious concerns about his leadership role for India. Moreover, if he continues to fail with the bat and is inconsistent with the ball, serious questions will be raised about his place in the squad for the T20 World Cup.
Hardik has found himself in a somewhat similar situation earlier in his career. He was in terrible form with the bat in IPL 2021, where he scored just 127 runs in 12 matches at an average of 14 and a strike rate of 113. He did not bowl a single ball that season. Hardik made a strong statement the following season by amassing 487 runs for the Titans, taking crucial wickets while leading the way to the title.
This time the stakes are even higher. How he reacts may define his legacy!