- The 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 tournament is at the halfway stage serving us thus far with the usual fare vis-à-vis twists, turns, thrills, edge-of-the-seat action, and interspersed with great entertainment quotient thrown in for good measure. The hugely popular league has dished out some outstanding and outrageous performances in the last few weeks. The alarming regularity with which some of the teams are breaching the 250-plus run mark in the allotted 20 overs seems surreal. Here, the Sunrisers Hyderabad have set a benchmark by breaching the hitherto considered impossible run setting with great aplomb. Scores of 287/3 in 20 overs appear simply unrealistic but has happened in this edition a few times.
PC: Times of India
- As die-hard cricket fans inalienably hooked on to the T20 format throwing in an adrenaline-pumping runathon over the last decade-and-a-half shows, this edition too appears to have gone a notch higher. However, some of the most fancied franchises like Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are struggling to showcase consistency that is the hallmark of two of the most successful teams in the league. Not for nothing, both these teams have won the league five times each. As cricket fans are aware, Mumbai Indians not only brought in the allrounder Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans in exchange but also made him the captain of the franchise by replacing the highly successful captain Rohit Sharma as well. This move did not go well with the fans.
- Consequently, whenever Hardik Pandya stepped onto the field, he was not only booed by the fans but was mercilessly trolled on social media as well. Unfortunately, this continues even after MI has already played half of their league matches. As unpopular a move as it might sound to replace long-serving captain Rohit Sharma, the decision should be viewed as the sole prerogative of the franchise owners alone. Cricket fans may have another opinion or preferences including backing Rohit Sharma to continue at the helm of MI affairs. Still, the choice has been made by anointing Pandya to skipper the side. This must be respected to allow Pandya to discharge his responsibilities to the best of his abilities. Sadly, the constant booing and trolling have affected his performance.
PC: NDTV Sports
- Neither Pandya is scoring as freely as he is capable of while batting nor executing bowling skills on expected lines. Even his captaincy has left a lot to be desired on the field, especially when it comes to executing plans to obtain better results. Some glaring tactical anomalies like not starting the bowling with the best bowler in the world Jasprit Bumrah during matches as well as coming on to bowl at certain critical moments have severely dented MI’s chances of securing favourable results. Little wonder that MI is languishing in the latter half of the points table having lost few matches on the trot. Hardik Pandya is feeling the heat and is stating the obvious. As a professional cricketer, Pandya needs to step up to deliver not only as a player but also as the captain of the fancied team.
