Hardik Pandya’s vice-captaincy sparks mockery of ex-India star

Ahead of the tournament, there was much speculation that Hardik Pandya could lose his place in the 15-member squad for the marquee competition due to his struggles with form in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) but the Ajit Agarkar-led national selection committee showed faith in his abilities.

Perhaps the one reason that may have clicked in Hardik Pandya’s favor is the TINA factor. There is no alternative (TINA) to the kind of ability that Hardik Pandya possesses – after all, he’s the lone genuine fast-bowling all-rounder in the team.

Interestingly, Irfan Pathan has been accused of running a propaganda campaign against Hardik Pandya, often criticizing him for his on-field decisions and performances.

On Tuesday, he tore into the 30-year-old all-rounder, observing that Hardik Pandya failed to unify the divided Mumbai Indians (MI) dressing room in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

“The team Mumbai Indians that qualified last year didn’t had Jasprit Bumrah but this season they had his services. Still they are in this situation. Purely because the team wasn’t managed well on the ground. Too many mistakes by their captain Hardik Pandya. It’s the truth,” he wrote on X.

Irfan Pathan also shared his thoughts on Rinku Singh’s exclusion from the T20 World Cup squad.

He stated that the KKR player shouldn’t have been ignored for the T20 World Cup.

“I think Rinku Singh’s recent past performance for Team India shouldn’t have been ignored,” Irfan Pathan wrote on the microblogging site.

With Irfan Pathan not mentioning Hardik Pandya in his social media post, netizens had fun at his expense as they shared hilarious reactions about how he would be feeling following his elevation to the post of vice-captain of the Indian Cricket Team.

This isn’t the first time Irfan Pathan has faced the wrath of the fans over his comments on Hardik Pandya.

In April, as Mumbai Indians lost another close encounter against the Delhi Capitals (DC), Irfan Pathan blamed Hardik Pandya for the loss, angering fans on social media.

“Cricket is a small margin game and that was a small margin victory for DC vs MI. Bumrah should have started in front of Fraser MCGurk as he never played Bumrah before. Things might have been different,” Irfan Pathan tweeted.

The tweet was about Delhi Capitals opener Jake Fraser-McGurk who took the Mumbai Indians bowling attack to the cleaners, smashing 84 off 27 balls to lay the foundation of the home side’s huge total of 257/4 in their allocated 20 overs.

In his post, Irfan Pathan highlighted that it was a mistake on Hardik Pandya’s part not to give Jasprit Bumrah the first over of the game to bowl, which allowed Jake Fraser-McGurk to get his eye in.

But fans on X found his remarks in bad test because he never highlighted Rohit Sharma’s “pathetic” display in the match. Needing 258 to win, the Mumbai Indians required a quickfire start. Instead, Rohit Sharma wasted balls early on before being dismissed for 8 off 8 deliveries. By the time Rohit Sharma left the pitch, pressure had already been put and the batters following him in the batting order felt that heat.

Yet, Irfan Pathan did not share his opinion on this topic and that’s why fans called him a hypocrite.

India Squad for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice-Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan