New Delhi, May 13 Mumbai Indians' (MI) IPL 2024 campaign was majorly overshadowed by the Rohit Sharma-Hardik Pandya debacle with both players being criticised individually as well as for their impact on the team.
However, former Australian cricketer Tom Moody has backed the two players to regain form ahead of the T20 World Cup, starting from June 1 in "I wouldn't be overly concerned with Rohit Sharma's form at this stage. When it comes to representing his country for major events like an ICC World Cup, I see the experience of Rohit Sharma as invaluable not just with the bat but as the captain as well.
"When it comes to form for players like Rohit Sharma, the way the event is structured there’s a number of games in the group stage for players to find some form against less competitive sides," Moody, cricket expert and commentator with official TV broadcaster Star Sports for IPL 2024, told IANS in an exclusive chat.
"When it comes to individual form or team form momentum can be captured quite early and then the team will be peaking at the right time when it comes to the back end of the tournament," he said.
Hardik, on the other hand, has had a rollercoaster of a season which began with him being booed at the Narendra Modi Stadium in their opening match against his former team, Gujarat Titans.
The 30-year old all-rounder is averaging only 18.18 runs a game which has fallen down from 31.45 in the previous edition. Alongside his average batting stats, he is also leaking way too many runs. His economy of 10.59 in this edition of the tournament is the worst it has been in the ten years he has played in the tournament.
"Same answer as Rohit, they’re both having challenging times when it comes to their franchise and Hardik is obviously a critical part of that side, because in ICC events you don’t have impact players so your all rounders are important when it comes to creating balance in your playing XI. I am sure Hardik Pandya will benefit from those early games getting some sort of momentum and confidence back into his game, more so with the bat than ball.
"In recent games he has found some sort of rhythm and form with the ball in hand. T20 can be quite a fickle format when it comes to batting in the middle order or as a player, who comes in the back end of the innings. I am sure he will have his moments in those first few games to recapture some sort of form into his batting," added Moody.
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