AB de Villiers says, “Almost like MS Dhoni... Hardik Pandya's captaincy style is ego-driven.”
Mumbai Indians, who used to be the powerhouse of the Indian Premier League with five championship titles, have hit a major roadblock this season. They were officially knocked out of playoff contention on Wednesday, marking a disappointing end to their campaign. While various factors contribute to a team’s performance, former cricketing great AB de Villiers has sparked a conversation about the leadership style of captain Hardik Pandya.
AB de Villiers, a former batsman for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, believes that Hardik Pandya‘s leadership might not be the perfect fit for the experienced players in the MI dressing room.
De Villiers said, “MI has been very disappointing. I backed them to qualify for the knockout stages, but that didn’t happen. What has gone wrong? 5th in 2021, 10th in 2022, 4th in 2023, and they are 9th. Rohit Sharma said, ‘I have played under a lot of captains. It’s nothing new. You do what you are required to do, and I have been doing that for the last month.’ You can read a little bit into that if you want to.”
He further added, “The captaincy style of Hardik Pandya is quite bravado. It’s ego-driven in a way; chest out. I don’t think how he walks on the field is always genuine, but he has decided that is his way of captaincy. It's almost like MS. Cool, calm, and collective, you always got your chest out. But when you play with a lot of experienced players, guys who have been around for ages... They don’t buy into that. It worked at GT, where it was a younger team. Sometimes, inexperienced players love to follow that kind of leadership.”