Hardik Pandya is absolutely not needed as a captain for CSK: Ex-Indian opener
Former Indian opening batter Sadagoppan Ramesh has advised the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) think tank to skip Hardik Pandya’s trade if the veteran all-rounder has captaincy aspirations.
Speaking on his Instagram handle, Ramesh has reckoned that Hardik shouldn’t be traded to the CSK franchise if he is looking to emerge as the franchise’s skipper. Instead, he should be traded only as a proper player.
“There are a lot of speculations around this with several players like Dube, Mhatre and Brevis being mentioned. But the biggest question is whether CSK needs Hardik Pandya. The answer is both yes and no. Firstly, there is no way CSK should let go of youngsters. Yet, CSK are in desperate need of proven players. So as a player, CSK needs Hardik Pandya. But, he is absolutely not needed as a captain,” Sadagoppan Ramesh said on his Instagram handle.
Notably, Pandya had an exceptional captaincy record with the Gujarat Titans (GT), propelling them to a title win in IPL 2022 and to the grand finale in IPL 2023. However, he failed to create an impact with the Mumbai Indians (MI) since IPL 2024, taking the side to the playoffs only once in three editions.
“I’ve always seen Hardik Pandya as two parts – an extraordinary cricketer and a poor captain. Yes, he led GT to the title. But it has become clearer once he left GT that even without him as captain, GT has not suffered. They just reached the final again. But see where the team he captained, MI, has been in the same timeframe. Thus, it’s clear that beyond his captaincy, certain things have clicked in GT,” he added.
“Coming to MI, people can say other senior players’ poor form hasn’t helped him as captain. But his own performance with bat and ball hasn’t helped MI either. Hardik’s own performance hasn’t helped his captaincy. He bowled only 22 overs in 10 matches, which means he has bowled only two overs per game. And he didn’t bowl the important overs often, while also batting too low on most occasions. It shows that he underutilized himself,” said Ramesh.
“A good captain is one who leads from the front and faces the music when the situation is most challenging. Hardik did that for GT but failed to do so for MI. Hardik was nowhere to be found in the important moments for MI. The fact that he did all this for GT makes it clear that Ashish Nehra pushed him there. So to get the best out of Hardik Pandya, a good captain and coach are needed,” he concluded.
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