Rift brewing in MI? Star Indian players hold meeting to discuss Hardik Pandya's captaincy

Senior members of Mumbai Indians (MI) have raised concerns over thefuture of the franchiseafter the team crashed out of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season under captain Hardik Pandya.MI old guards Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrahamongothersheld a meeting to assess thefuture of the team, according to a report inThe Indian Express.

The senior players have voiced their displeasure overPandya'sstyle of captaincy, suggesting that the team had lost its joy and morale as the season continued.The meeting was held to discuss what the star players felt was the fundamental issue.

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Citing sources close to MI, the report stated that the meetingwas necessitatedas the team that was captained by Rohit for the last10years,was still coming to terms with the change of guard.

“These are regular teething problems for a team that sees leadership change.Thishappens in sports all the time,”an MI official said.

Pandya faces criticism

Pandya has invited criticism from pundits for not having a Plan B when things get south for him. Additionally, his tendency to single out players has not gone down well within the MI camp.

Notably, afterMI'sloss against the Delhi Capitals, Pandya said Tilak Varma should have targeted Axar Patel more and attributed the defeat to a lack of game knowledge. A left-hand batter against a left-arm spinnerisregardedasa greatmatch-up for the former to score runs.

However,Pandya'scriticism felt misplaced as VarmaremainsMumbai'shighest scorer this season and had a fantastic inning, scoring 63 runs off of 32 deliveries.

Owing to the continuous failure of the team, former Australian captain Michael Clarke opined that the five-time champions were struggling due to the factions that had developed.

“Idon’tknow. I think it's wishful thinking for Mumbai this entire IPL. I thinkthere’sa lot more going on than what we are seeing on the outsideandyoucan’thave that many good players and perform this inconsistently,”said Clarke.

“Ithink there are different groups inside that changing roomandsomething is not working, theyare not gelling together, theyare not playing as a team,”he added.

MI will now face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday (May 11) at the Eden Gardens in what will be their penultimate game of the season.

(With inputs from agencies)