Now about two months are left for the start of the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). IPL 2025 will start from March 14. Before this, Mumbai Indians (MI) have given a big gift to their captain Hardik Pandya. Everyone is well aware of what happened to Hardik during IPL 2024. In such a situation, Mumbai Indians called a special meeting and warned their big and key players to support Captain Hardik and not weaken him.

Hardik got a special gift from Mumbai Indians

It is noteworthy that Hardik had joined the Mumbai team during IPL 2024. He was a part of Mumbai earlier also. But in between, he played for Gujarat Titans for two years and was also the captain of Gujarat but Hardik came back to Mumbai last season. This time the franchise made him the captain. But because of this Mumbai Indians were divided into two groups. Because before this Rohit Sharma was the captain and many players were angry with Hardik suddenly becoming the captain. Hardik also had to face booing and derogatory comments from the audience in the stadium.

During IPL 2024, Hardik had to face bad behavior from the players in the team and the spectators in the stadium. Keeping these things in mind, now the owners of Mumbai Indians called a special meeting for them and gave strict instructions to their players that nothing should happen within the team which may demoralize Hardik Pandya or make him weak as a captain. A BCCI source said, 'If there was a feeling within the team that Hardik is not the right leader, then it could have increased the tension and even led to division among Mumbai Indians. The source further said, 'Underestimating the leadership of a captain, that too in a high-profile franchise like Mumbai Indians, has a deep impact on the team's performance and cohesion.

Mumbai was able to win only four matches in IPL 2024

Rohit Sharma was the captain of Mumbai Indians till IPL 2023. He won Mumbai the title five times under his captaincy. However, when the team suddenly made Hardik Pandya the captain in 2024, some players did not like this decision. After this, there were reports of factionalism in the Mumbai team. Even in the dressing form of MI, the players were seen isolated. While Hardik was not getting proper support from his players, the remaining work was being done by the fans of Mumbai Indians. The audience trolled Hardik a lot during MI matches. He was booed loudly. Even derogatory words were used for Hardik. Mumbai's performance this season was also disappointing. Last season, MI was at the bottom of the points table after winning only four out of 14 matches.