File photo of Mumbai Indians.© BCCI
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar heaped praises of the Mumbai Indians team and its captain Hardik Pandya. Impressed by MI’s sensational comeback in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, he pointed how the Hardik-led team managed to pull it off. The season seemed nearly over for MI after they lost four of their first five matches in the tournament, but what followed what something extraordinary. MI won six consecutive matches after that to get in serious contention for the playoff race. They lost to Gujarat Titans that broke their winning streak but the side remains in the playoff race with two matches left to play.
The performance this year from MI was far better than the last season when Hardik Pandya had replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain of the side. The unhappy fans even booed Hardik during the entire edition, not only in away games but also at home. On the other hand, this year has been completely different as Hardik has got the backing of the crowd and he has equally impressed with his performance, especially in bowling.
“What we saw from last year to this year has been the fact that he also got the support of the crowd backing him. Last year, he would have been a little bit unsettled by the fact that the Mumbai crowd and the Mumbai supporters were not really backing him so much. But this year, they are all behind him. And they are all urging him to go on to win. They have got one game at home on the 21st,” Sunil Gavaskar said at Star Sports Press Room session.
“And that is where we will see how they come back. And the way they have come back, we are talking about his thinking and we are talking about how his calming influence is. That is because he has not shown any emotions on the field. When there has been a misfield, when there has been a drop catch, he has just turned on his back and he has gone back to his fielding position. A lot of times, when the captain has a little bit of gesticulations, then the fielder also gets a little bit nervous. But he hasn’t done that. And so that’s the reason why Mumbai have come back so well. They normally do that. And once again, this year, I am hoping, as a Mumbai Indians fan, that they will continue to go on to win,” he added.
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