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Uthappa Backs Hardik Pandya, Calls Rohit Sharma Culprit For MI's Lack Of Success

Rohit Sharma is playing under Pandya at MI in IPL 2024 (AP)Rohit Sharma is playing under Pandya at MI in IPL 2024 (AP)

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 is almost halfway done, but Mumbai Indians (MI) fans are still angry with the captaincy switch from Rohit Sharma to Hardik Pandya. Even though some former cricketers don't agree with MI management's decisions, Robin Uthappa has come in support of Pandya, who has been getting bashed from all directions.

Under the new leadership, Mumbai's performance has been lackluster, with the team losing four matches and currently sitting at the seventh position in the IPL 2024. This downturn in performance has not gone unnoticed, with former cricketers, pundits, and fans directing their criticism towards Pandya. 

He has also been getting booed during all MI games, which is tampering with his performances as captain and player.

Meanwhile, Uthappa has spoken his mind about Mumbai's decision to hand over captaincy, citing the franchise's earlier action when they appointed Rohit Sharma in the middle of a season 11 years ago. 

"When captaincy was given to Rohit Sharma it was taken from Ricky Ponting in the middle of the season. This is the same franchise. All the senior guys Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, and Ricky Ponting supported Rohit," Uthappa said on the TRS podcast.

The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) legend pointed out Rohit Sharma's struggles as captain and batter in the IPL in the last three seasons. Since winning in 2020, MI has just qualified for the playoffs once, where Rohit struggled to lay a platform as an opener.

"In the last four years, statistically... I'm never gonna question the calibre and the gloriousness of Rohit Sharma the batter. But look at it from a franchise perspective. They won in 2020. They didn't win in the last three years. And the last three years, Rohit scored less than 300 runs (only once). So there's a lack of success as a batter, a lack of success as a captain. In just the IPL, cause everywhere else, he has scored runs," he said.

Since IPL 2020, Rohit has only surpassed the 350-run mark in the league. Meanwhile, this season, he has already scored close to 300 runs off just seven matches, as he is now playing without any captaincy pressure.