Former India opener Sadagoppan Ramesh didn't mince his words while criticising Hardik Pandya's leadership skills ahead of the Mumbai Indians' home game against Lucknow Super Giants on Monday, May 4.
Mumbai Indians reached the playoffs last season, but so far in IPL 2026, they are languishing at No. 9. Their chances of reaching the playoffs are all but over. Amid the downfall, Ramesh opined that Hardik is unable to lead the team from the front, and that is a reason why the players are not giving their
best. The cricketer-turned-expert stated that Hardik has not taken the responsibility and has not stepped up in crises.
"He wants to stay behind and let others fix the problems. The players in a team are very clever. They'll know if a captain is actually leading them from the front or hiding behind. If you stay behind as a captain, the players will never give it their all for you," Ramesh said on Star Sports.
"It's one thing to fail as a player, but Hardik as a captain is not stepping up in crises. Instead, he sends different people to right the wrong before coming himself. You are defending only 160, and you come into bowl after 85 runs have been scored. This is a guy who won India the World Cup under Rohit by bowling the crucial overs. Rohit used Hardik beautifully in crises. Hardik himself used to do it for GT, but for MI, he isn't doing it," he added.
Many point to Suryakumar Yadav's failures to defend Hardik: S Ramesh
Ramesh also said that Suryakumar Yadav is failing only with the bat, but Hardik isn't contributing much, neither with the bat nor the ball. The 50-year-old added that Hardik hasn't used his star pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult well enough.
"Hardik Pandya gets two chances in a game, with bat and ball. Many point to Suryakumar Yadav's failures to defend Hardik. While Surya is failing with the bat, Hardik is failing in batting and bowling. His strike rate is terrible in this IPL, and he has also leaked runs with the ball," said Ramesh (via the aforementioned source).
"Boult and Bumrah are not firing, which is letting MI down. But Hardik Pandya is also using the bowlers poorly in the powerplay. After Sanju Samson gets out in the last match, he gives the fifth over to Krish Bhagat. He should have bowled that over. That proved to be expensive," he concluded.
