Kaif Opens Up About Hardik Pandya's Struggles During IPL 2024 and His Resilience
Hardik Pandya is the best all-rounder in India. Hardik Pandya has been contributing across formats in white-ball cricket. He scored 50 runs against England, and India won by 15 runs in Pune. Mohammad Kaif said that no one else in India can play like Hardik, and there's no replacement for him.
Hardik was the captain of the Mumbai Indians team in the IPL 2024. But his team did not win many matches and came in last on the points table. Everyone thought he was going to be the new captain after the World Cup in 2024, taking over from Rohit Sharma. But, Suryakumar Yadav was the captain. It has been a very difficult time for Hardik.
“He was the most targeted cricketer during IPL 2024 but he didn’t say anything. He bowled the most important overs in the final of the T20 World Cup in 2024 and won the game and trophy for the country. He cried after making India win,” Kaif said in a video posted.
Think Hardik Pandya deserves captaincy. India's most valuable white-ball player, genuine finisher, World Cup hero and not getting impacted by stadium abuse. Sub ko chup kara diya, True leader.#CricketwithKaif11 #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/zJr4VPblg8
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) February 1, 2025
“He was injured during the 2023 ODI World Cup and we couldn’t find a replacement. Mohammed Shami played in his place and took a lot of wickets but India was one batter short. There is no replacement for him,” he stated.
Mohammad Kaif pointed out that Hardik Pandya must have felt hurt when the captaincy was handed over to Suryakumar Yadav.
“He contributes to the departments of the game. Hardik must have felt bad when he was not given the captaincy. He was not considered for the vice-captaincy as well. He is also a human. Hardik is giving his best and you can’t find another player of his skill set. In the population of 1.4 billion, there is only one Hardik Pandya,” he concluded.