Former Australia captain Aaron Finch has lamented the situation of all-rounder Hardik Pandya after his Mumbai Indians were officially eliminated from the IPL 2024 last night.
The Mumbai Indians lost to a Kolkata Knight Riders Team that had not won a single game at the Wankhede Stadium for 12 years. However, the law of averages came into effect yesterday as Hardik Pandya’s side were beaten by a margin of 24 runs.
It was Mumbai’s 8th defeat of the season and although they have no chance of reaching the play-offs, they can still finish the season with a win in their last three games.
Aaron Finch finds Hardik Pandya completely exhausted
It has been a very tough season for new Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya. Before the season started, he was trolled by fans.
When IPL 2024 started, he was still criticized by MI, GT and Rohit Sharma fans. And as the season draws to a close, Pandya is still getting beaten up.
The scenario for Hardik Pandya would have been different had Mumbai Indians been in the top four of the table. However, since this is not the case, Pandya has to face criticism, online abuse and much more from fans.
The worst part is that his players, especially the juniors, don’t give him enough respect. For a pure cricket fan, this is much more heartbreaking.
Former Australian captain Aaron Finch feels the same way about Hardik Pandya. According to his observation, the 2021 T20 World Cup winner has claimed that Pandya looks exhausted with all the pressure he is under.
Speaking to Star Sports, Finch admitted that it is very difficult to be in Hardik’s situation as he himself has experienced a situation once in his career where nothing seemed to work.
“He looks flat at the moment, he looks drained. He looks like someone who is feeling the pressure. I feel for him because I know how it feels to be in that situation. Everything you try doesn’t seem to work and when the team doesn’t perform well it’s a really difficult point,” Aaron Finch said on Star Sports.
Finch explains how things could have been different for Hardik
Aaron Finch further stated that if Mumbai Indians had won their games, Hardik Pandya would not have found himself in this situation. In such a scenario, the all-rounder would have felt comfortable knowing that the team was performing well regardless of their lack of form.
Finch concluded by saying that the Indian Premier League is a very cruel competition, especially when a team is in a bad situation.
“It’s one thing if you don’t perform but the team wins. As a captain you are proud of that. But you have all the responsibility for your own performance and also for the team, and it’s an incredibly difficult situation, especially in this competition.” – Finch concluded.
MI will host SRH next
Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians will host Sunrisers Hyderabad in their next home match at the Wankhede Stadium on May 6. In their last meeting, Hyderabad had posted 277 in the first innings and with the second leg scheduled to take place in Wankhede, we might as well expect more fireworks.
Read the articles about the LSG vs. KKR game