Former cricketer and commentator Kevin Pietersen feels that Mumbai Indians' newly-appointed captain Hardik Pandya might be finding it difficult to maintain a forced smile amid criticism from the fans. Speaking from his own experiences, Pietersen opened up about the challenge of dealing with such situations. Hardik Pandya's tenure as the new captain of Mumbai Indians has been overshadowed by persistent booing from the fans of the franchise. The star all-rounder took over the reins from the legendary captain Rohit Sharma, who led the Mumbai Indians team to five IPL titles, leading to criticism from the supporters of the franchise. Pandya has been facing scrutiny both on and off the field from MI fans. Notably, the crowd at MI's home ground Wankhede Stadium has openly expressed their disapproval, prompting interventions from Virat Kohli (during the RCB clash) and Rohit Sharma (during the RR clash).

Sunil Gavaskar Slammed Hardik Pandya For His 'Ordinary Captaincy'

Meanwhile, speaking to Star Sports, legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar slammed Hardik Pandya for his 'ordinary bowling and captaincy". "Probably the worst kind of bowling that I've seen for a long, long time. It almost looks like I've had this embrace with my hero. I've got a bowling kind of deliveries that he's gonna hit for sixes. One 6 is fine. The next one again a length ball when you know that this batter is looking for a length ball to hit. The third ball again, a full toss on the leg side and he's looking for it and hits it for a 6. Absolutely ordinary bowling, ordinary captaincy," Gavaskar said during his analysis in the mid-innings break.

Kevin Pietersen Empathized With Pandya

However, former cricketer Kevin Pietersen empathized with Hardik Pandya's situation and stated that he is not pleased with the criticism. KP emphasized that such scrutiny can deeply affect an individual. He said: "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. He's not happy. I've been there." He added: "I've been in the firing line and I've been in the firing line proper, he knows I've been in the firing line, you know, I've been in the firing line and I can tell you now, it affects you," After starting his IPL journey with the Mumbai Indians in 2015, the 30-year-old made significant contributions to their three title victories. He then moved to the Gujarat Titans in 2022, where he served as captain for two seasons before returning to the Mumbai franchise. Further, KP believes that Hardik's performance this season has been hampered by the criticism from the fans, highlighting how MS Dhoni smashed him for over 20 runs in an over. He said: "If what's happening to Hardik Pandya, the boos that we've just been hearing now and how happy they are to see the CSK former captain, the lion (MS Dhoni) smacking him all over the park, it hurts you because he has emotion and he's an Indian player. And he doesn't want to be treated like this. So when this is happening, it's affecting him. It's affecting his cricket and something needs to happen,"

"It's affecting him, it's affecting his cricket and something needs to happen" - #KevinPietersen on Hardik's last over vs @msdhoni and the ups and downs of his captaincy!

📹 | Watch the legends of the game, #SunilGavaskar and @KP24 talk more about @hardikpandya7's leadership!… pic.twitter.com/QxCKE6KXf8 — Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 14, 2024

Hardik Pandya's costly 20th over, where he gave away 26 runs, hurt Mumbai Indians as Chennai Super Kings reached 206 runs. Pandya's poor performance had a big impact as Mumbai Indians fell short by 20 runs at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, April 14. He only managed to score 2 runs off 6 balls with the bat. This loss was the fourth for Mumbai Indians this season, placing them in eighth position in the standings. Their next match is against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Mullanpur Stadium on Thursday, April 18.