Mumbai

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Senior members of Mumbai Indians (MI) have raised concerns over the future of the franchise after 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 Bumrah among others held a meeting to assess the future of the team, according to a report in The Indian Express.   

The senior players have voiced their displeasure over Pandya's style 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. 

Citing sources close to MI, the report stated that the meeting was necessitated as the team that was captained by Rohit for the last 10 years, was still coming to terms with the change of guard. 

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

Also read | IPL 2024: Poor captaincy from Hardik Pandya will cost MI playoffs spot, feels former Indian batter

Pandya faces criticism

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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, after MI's loss 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 spinner is regarded as a great match-up for the former to score runs. 

However, Pandya's criticism felt misplaced as Varma remains Mumbai's highest 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. 

“I don’t know. I think it's wishful thinking for Mumbai this entire IPL. I think there’s a lot more going on than what we are seeing on the outside and you can’t have that many good players and perform this inconsistently,” said Clarke.

“I think there are different groups inside that changing room and something is not working, they are not gelling together, they are 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)