Former Indian batsman Robin Uthappa made a shocking yet controversial statement on the highly debatable captaincy change of Mumbai Indians (MI) and even shared his thoughts on the five-time champions’ poor performance in the ongoing IPL 2024.
The ongoing IPL 2024 may have reached the halfway point, but Mumbai Indians (MI) fans are still upset over the franchise’s decision to sack Rohit Sharma and hand over the captaincy to Hardik Pandya.
While many are not happy with the move, Uthappa supported the call of the Mumbai Indians (MI) and even Pandya amid the criticism he is facing from fans and cricket experts.
Well, MI’s performance has been disappointing so far in the ongoing IPL 2024, with the team losing four of its seven games and currently occupying the seventh position in the standings.
This performance led former cricketers, pundits and fans to criticize Pandya’s captaincy. Furthermore, the MI captain has been subjected to boos from the crowd during MI games, which is affecting his performance as both a captain and a player.
Robin Uthappa comes out to support Hardik Pandya
There have been a lot of memes ribbing Hardik for replacing Rohit, and then his show adds to the overall problems. Meanwhile, Robin Uthappa pointed out that this was not the first time MI had made captaincy changes, but Hardik is not getting the support he deserves that Rohit received when he replaced Ricky Ponting mid-season in 2013.
On The Ranveer Show Podcast, Uthappa spoke about the captaincy change in the Mumbai franchise. He pointed out that when Rohit Sharma was given the captaincy, he took it away from Ricky Ponting mid-season, and senior players like Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Ricky Ponting supported the young captain during his transition.
Uthappa then highlighted Rohit’s performance as MI batsman and captain over the last four seasons, saying that the opener could not cross the 300-run mark in that phase and that they won the title once.
The former Indian cricketer said on the show: “I will never question the caliber and glory of batsman Rohit Sharma. But look at it from a franchise perspective. They won in 2020. They haven’t won in the last three years. And in the last three years, Rohit scored less than 300 runs (only once). So, change was on the card.”
Mockery, trolling, memes hurt Hardik Pandya: Robin Uthappa
Uthappa also highlighted the issue of mockery and trolling directed at Pandya, saying that it hurts him as a human being. He mentioned that the Indian all-rounder may be dealing with mental health issues and urged people not to share memes that could harm someone’s mental well-being.
Talking about Hardik Pandya, Uthappa said, “The teasing, the trolling, the memes about his fitness. Don’t you think it hurts? It hurts. He hurts any human being. How many people really know the reality? Hardik is dealing with mental health issues, no doubt. We as people, as I understand it, as Indians, are emotional.
But it is not right to impose this type of treatment on any human being. It is inappropriate as a society for us to do that to someone and be okay with it. We shouldn’t laugh at it. We shouldn’t forward these memes. One of the most beautiful things we did as a country is our expression of love and our reaction towards our Indian team after we lost the World Cup. “This is how we should be as a society and as Indians.”
Uthappa spitting out facts pic.twitter.com/lmBFlSb2QK
– Pushkar (@musafir_hu_yar) April 21, 2024
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