Former Mumbai Indians cricketer Ambati Rayudu has made a massive claim about the Hardik Pandya-led team’s poor campaign in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He stated that the team must ensure that they channel everything in one direction. as in the current season. There were many talks related to individuals.
Mumbai Indians had one of their horrible campaigns in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Despite having a star-studded lineup, the Hardik Pandya-led team was the first team to be eliminated from the tournament. They did not live up to their performances, as they failed to win even the matches that were within their reach.
The change of captaincy from Rohit Sharma to Hardik Pandya did not seem to be working in their favor as there were reports claiming that the team was not a good fit. This was because many did not welcome the manner in which the Indian captain was sacked as skipper of the franchise.
Before the season, Mumbai Indians traded Hardik Pandya from the Gujarat Titans and then, in a social media post, announced him as the captain of the team. There were reports that players, barring foreign cricketers, still admired Rohit Sharma and did not like Hardik’s coaching style.
As a result of that, Mumbai Indians did not have a great campaign in the league. He was one of the favorites to win the title when the league began. However, it was a big disappointment for them as they only managed 4 wins in the 13 games they played.
Ambati Rayudu highlighted that Mumbai Indians have always been team-centric but this time there were many individual powerhouses. He believes that the team lacked direction, which led to poor performance. Speaking to Times Now, he explained:
“To answer that question, I think Mumbai has always been an organization where the team always came first. Individuals were always part of a team and part of an organization called the Mumbai Indians, even Sachin (Tendulkar) Paaji used to do it. I feel like I’m part of a team right now, I just feel like there are too many individual powerhouses on the team. There’s no single intention or direction to take. Whenever that happens in any team, the team struggles.
Ambati Rayudu further added that this season everyone was talking about different things related to Mumbai Indians but no one was focusing on the team. He added:
“If your priority is your team, from the management to the captain and the players, your individual aspirations and selfish motives take a backseat. This year, from the beginning of the season, everyone was talking about everything except the Indians of Mumbai as a team.”
They need to channel everything in one direction – Ambati Rayudu on Mumbai Indians
Ambati Rayudu further added that Mumbai Indians must focus on a direction to go and stated that even if someone is not willing to do so, they must get rid of them. He explained:
“This is an area they need to work on in the future. They need to channel everything in one direction. If someone doesn’t come in, no matter how difficult it is, you need to get rid of them and get players who always want to play for the team. Going forward, I’m sure they want to build a team where everyone wants to play for the team instead of their selfish motives.”
Mumbai Indians will play their last match against Lucknow Super Giants. The match will be played on Friday (May 17) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.