Jasprit breaks silence on Hardik MI incident
Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya played together in Mumbai Indians and both contributed significantly to India’s T20 World Cup win. The last few months have been quite a roller coaster ride for Hardik Pandya. It has been almost as up and down as it gets; there was celebration when the all-rounder returned to Mumbai Indians in November last year, his first IPL franchise.
Two years after being released from the team. The following month, the situation got even worse. Fans turned against Mumbai Indians when they announced Hardik as the new captain of the team, replacing five-time IPL-winning skipper Rohit Sharma.
Faced booing
During the 2024 season of the league, Hardik Pandya faced constant booing by the franchise’s fans at the team’s home ground Wankhede Stadium. In some ways, it affected his performance as well, and MI finished bottom of the table with only four wins in 14 matches. However, despite being at his all-time low, Hardik overcame the odds and made a stunning comeback, emerging as one of the mainstays of India’s unbeaten run in the T20 World Cup, which culminated in a title win in a dramatic final against South Africa last month.
Some players teammates at Mumbai Indians and India
All the while, some players have remained in close touch with Hardik Pandya as teammates at Mumbai Indians and India. One of them, Jasprit Bumrah, has finally spoken about the all-rounder’s struggle with fan protests and his stunning comeback at the T20 World Cup.
An emotion-driven country
We understand that we live in a country where emotions are really a topic of discussion. This is an emotion-driven country. We understand that fans get emotional, and players get emotional as well,” Bumrah began. It does matter that you are an Indian player, and you are playing in India, and your own fans are speaking like that about you. But that’s the way it is. You have to take it upon yourself. How can you go out there and stop people?
“If you start focusing on yourself, you try to close that door,” Bumrah added. Bumrah admitted that it is one thing to say it, but it is another thing to actually do it.
It’s not as easy to say ‘just don’t focus on it.’ They are shouting, and you can hear it, but again, the inner circle helps you. We, as a team, don’t encourage it, we don’t promote it, we don’t think it’s appropriate.
The narrative changed after the World Cup
The premier Indian pacer pointed out that the narrative towards Hardik has completely changed after his stellar performance in the T20 World Cup. He also warned the all-rounder that all it takes is one defeat for things to change.
You can’t take it seriously. Because, again, people are singing songs of praise. It doesn’t mean it’s the be all and end all. A few days later, if we lose another game, the narrative might change. You understand how it is.
You understand it now, because we play a sport that is so popular, every player goes through these things. In football, you see fans booing the best players in the world. It’s a part of the player’s journey, there will be things that won’t be good, sometimes, it might not even be fair, but that’s the way it is.
The best players in the world face all these ills
Now that people are singing praises, it’s not all for nothing. When we lose a game, that narrative can change again. Because we play a sport that is so popular, every player has to go through all these. In football, we see fans booing people. The best players in the world face all these things. It’s a part of a player’s journey. There are things that happen which are not a great spectacle. It’s not fair. It’s the way it is. We lead a great life; there are good things in our sport.
We as a team cannot leave an individual behind. We are there for each other. We are trying to help each other. I have played a lot of cricket with Hardik, but it could be a young player. It’s us against the world. You don’t want to introduce too much. We were together and trying to help him if he needed it.
Conclusion
Mumbai Indians were surrounded by controversies in IPL 2024. The franchise decided to appoint Hardik Pandya as the captain in place of Rohit Sharma ahead of the new season – a decision that was not liked by a section of fans. Hardik faced a lot of criticism for failing to perform well on the field and was even jeered by some fans at the Wankhede Stadium.
However, things changed completely after Hardik played a key role in leading India to the T20 World Cup 2024 title. In a recent interaction, India and Mumbai Indians pacer Jasprit Bumrah opened up about the entire controversy and said that although the situation was bad, the team supports Hardik in tough times.
