Fresh support for Hardik Pandya from within the team
Tim David Backs Hardik Pandya For His Power-Hitting in IPL 2024
The Australian cricketer Tim David recently reflected on Hardik Pandya’s performance as a player for the Mumbai Indians team in IPL 2024. Mumbai Indians has been under the scanner in the ongoing season ever since they lost three consecutive matches in the beginning of the tournament only to win their first game of the season against Delhi Capitals.
Mumbai Indians recently underwent a major transition as the team ended their 10 year long association with Rohit Sharma as the captain and replaced him with the Indian all-rounder. Pandya’s captaincy and performance as a player has received wide criticism for questionable decisions and repeated low strike rate.
Tim David Backs Hardik Pandya For His Power-Hitting in IPL 2024
In a recent interview, the overseas strong hitter, lauded the MI skipper and backed him for accelerating his power in critical situations. David emphasizes that Pandya is a power hitter and a match winner for the team.
Tim David discussed, "Hardik has been phenomenal in the way he has been playing for the team. That is what we need at some point. Sometimes it is me, sometimes it is other guys. You could go look at the first game where Hardik hit two boundaries in his first two balls. (We have) absolutely full faith in him. We know his power; we know how good he is. When he gets into that situation, he is going to win games for us.”
While citing the example of Mumbai Indians win against Delhi Capitals, the Australian cricketer highlighted that Hardik Pandya set a perfect stage for him and the Caribbean batter Romario Shepherd to put runs on the board.
"Look at the last match, we struggled really hard for momentum towards the back end (against Delhi Capitals). Hardik played a perfect innings that set the platform for myself and Romario (Shepherd) to go on with at the end. We got ourselves to a platform and he got that one ball that he could have hit for six. He hit it high on the bat and missed the middle and he is out (and) that is how the game goes”, David added.
With only one victory in their bag, Mumbai Indians currently stands at the 8th position on the points table with the net run rate of -0.704. The team is scheduled to play their next match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium on 11th April.