Former India and Chennai Super Kings batter Ambati Rayudu has expressed his blunt opinion on Hardik Pandya and his future with the five-time champions. Rayudu has opined that Pandya must have felt cornered
by the criticism he faced after taking over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma in 2024. Pandya, unfortunately, hasn’t been able to enjoy a successful captaincy tenure with the Blue and Gold Army and has been under constant scrutiny.
Now that the reports of Pandya have been doing rounds, Rayudu has talked about the situation and the franchise’s plans ahead of the upcoming season. “In Mumbai, I just thought that Hardik felt as if he was cornered. And once you feel you’re cornered, you’re always looking over your shoulder,” Rayudu told Cricbuzz.
“Once that happens in a dressing room, you tend to come out in ways that you wouldn’t want to. A lot of things didn’t go well for Hardik. It might be Hardik’s fault as well as something else.”
If he wants to stay at Mumbai, I don’t think he should be captain: Ambati Rayudu on Hardik Pandya
Rayudu further said that if Pandya sees his future with the Mumbai Indians, he should step down from the position of captaincy. According to the cricketer-turned-commentator, by letting go of the captaincy, he would be able to enjoy his game more and can emerge as a match-winner for the team.
“From now on, if he wants to stay at MI, I don’t think he should be the captain. He should just play his game, enjoy his time, and be a match-winner for MI. But if he goes out, definitely not a captain again, at least for one season,” he said.
While earlier reports suggested that Chennai Super Kings could engage in a trade with the arch-rivals to acquire the services of their skipper Hardik Pandya. However, as per the latest reports, the Indians have almost finalised a deal with the Punjab Kings that would send Arshdeep Singh to Mumbai while Pandya will travel to the opposite side.
