England legend comes in support of Hardik Pandya

Gujarat lost their first game of the Indian T20 league as Hyderabad beat them by eight wickets. This was also Hardik Pandya's first loss as captain. So far, his leadership skills have been praised by one and all. However, the game on Monday saw him lose his cool on the field.

Advertisment

While bowling, he lashed out at Mohammed Shami during his third over. It was the 12th over of the second innings when the all-rounder got angry at the pacer for not going for the catch. This resulted in a lot of pundits and experts criticizing him for his behaviour. The fact that he showed his displeasure in such a blatantly inappropriate manner didn't sit well with a lot of people.

However, Graeme Swann came in support of Hardik Pandya. He felt that the emotions of a skipper can get the better of them during pressure situations. The Englishman also stated that the main reason for Gujarat's loss was the lack of runs.

“I will tell you what we shouldn’t do though. We shouldn’t look at it and say all of a sudden Hardik is not a good captain. The fact that they did not score enough runs lost them the game, not Hardik Pandya’s captaincy.

Advertisment

He shuffled his packs quite well but of course, your nerves get a bit fried as a skipper or a bowler (in tense situations). It was not Hardik’s captaincy but the lack of runs that cost them,” said Graeme Swann on Star Sports, after the completion of the game.

It is to be noted that Pandya not only scored a half-century with the bat, but was superb with the ball as well. He only gave 27 runs in his four overs, and picked up a wicket. In the meanwhile, Mathew Hayden also spoke about the Pandya-Shami incident. He felt that the pacer should have gone for the catch.

“Shami really needed to go harder inside the boundary. When you are not defending much, it’s about really working hard for your mates, and taking the effort catches and make the plays. Be it run-out or catches or just assists, in general, to stop a batter from scoring boundaries,” said Mathew Hayden.