Former cricketers stern take on Hardiks transfer to CSK: not needed as a captain

Mumbai Indians cricketer Hardik Pandya in action. (FILE photo)Amid speculation that Hardik Pandya might be traded to Chennai Super Kings, former Indian cricketer Sadagoppan Ramesh said that while Pandya could be a good addition to the Chennai squad, he urged Super Kings not to trade youngsters for Pandya and also warned CSK against making him the captain. “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,” Ramesh said on his YouTube channel.“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. Ramesh pointed out Mumbai’s poor performances last season and said it also has to do with Hardik’s own form with both the bat and ball. “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 is needed,” he further said.