Gautam Gambhir defends Hardik Pandya amid captaincy criticism: ‘Kevin Pietersen and AB de Villiers’ record worse than any other leader’

KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir has come in defence of the Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya, who has been facing the heat owing to his captaincy this season. Under Pandya – who took over the reigns of MI after winning and finishing runner-ups as captain of Gujarat Titans – the five-time champions were the first team to be knocked out of playoffs contention this season.

The performance has led to Pandya’s leadership coming into question with the likes of Kevin Pietersen and AB de Villiers questioning the all-rounder’s tactics. Two-time IPL winning captain himself, Gambhir however, has put the England and South Africa skipper’s credentials under scanner.

“When they themselves did captaincy [were captains], what were their own performances like? I do not think that whether it is Kevin Pietersen or AB de Villiers, there has ever been performances in their careers from a leadership point of view. Nothing. If you look up their records, it would be worse than any other leader,” Gambhir told Sportskeeda.

“I don’t think AB de Villiers has even captained any game in the IPL or ultimately achieved anything apart from his own scores. I do not think he has achieved anything from a team point of view. Hardik Pandya is still an IPL winning captain. So, you should only compare orange to oranges, not apples to oranges,” he added.

The former RCB player, de Villiers had taken to his YouTube channel to comment on Pandya’s captaincy of MI this year, calling it ‘ego-driven’. “The captaincy style of Hardik Pandya is quite bravado. It’s ego-driven in a way, chest out,” de Villiers had said. “I don’t think how he walks on the field is always genuine, but he has decided that is his way of captaincy. Almost like MS (Dhoni). Cool, calm, collective, always got your chest out.”

Upon seeing a multitude of comments following his video, the former Proteas skipper elaborated on the same.

“Why I said it’s always not genuine is because I played exactly the same way. I was not the soft-spoken, genuine AB de Villiers that I was at home. The guy you saw on the field was in a way ‘an act’. Sometimes, you have to put up a front and show the opposition that you are a force to reckon with. That’s what Hardik Pandya does,” de Villiers stated.

Pietersen had also questioned Pandya’s demeanour. “I actually think with Hardik Pandya everything away from the game is affecting him so much. He’s smiling too much when he does the toss, he’s trying to act like he’s so happy,” Pietersen had said on Star Sports.

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From 13 games this season, MI have only four wins to their name. Pandya and Co will cap off a dismal campaign against the Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium this week.

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