Former India player Irfan Pathan questioned the appointment of Hardik Pandya as vice-captain when India announced their squad for the 2024 edition of the ICC T20 World Cup. Irfan never hesitated to speak his mind as the cricket pundit launched several attacks on the Mumbai Indians (MI) all-rounder throughout the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
Fast forward to today, Hardik has completed his redemption. After facing boos, jeers and all manner of negativity in the build-up to the T20 World Cup, Pandya bounced back to propel India to their second ICC T20 world crown in the Caribbean. The star all-rounder defended 16 runs in the final over of the showpiece clash against South Africa as Rohit Sharma and Co. were crowned world champions for the second time in the shortest format.
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In a conversation with Star sports After the T20 World Cup, Irfan said that he punished Hardik as his performances were not up to par for the IPL 2024. “It has been a special journey for Hardik Pandya. Coming back from all the criticism, it was actually me who criticised him as he was not performing during the IPL time. He was making a lot of mistakes at that time,” Irfan said.
Hardik replaced Rohit as the captain of Mumbai Indians for the IPL 2024. His appointment angered MI fans as the Mumbai captain was booed incessantly at the stage of the cash-rich league. Under Pandya’s leadership, MI became the first team to bow out of the playoff race in the IPL 2024. “From there to coming back and winning the World Cup has been special. He showed character, he performed. With Rohit Sharma, with Jasprit Bumrah, the kind of performance he put in to make a difference to the Indian cricket team has been very special,” Pathan added.
