Rohit vs Hardik: RIP Conspiracy Theorists!
In recent times, a very public change of guard made extensive headlines. Hardik Pandya moved from the Gujarat Titans (GT), where he had a very successful stint – winning the IPL in the inaugural year of the Ahmedabad-based franchise –
After all, managing cricket in India involves not just cricketers, support staff, sports associations, groundsmen, sponsors, broadcasters, and more. It also involves coping with the egos and sensitivities of players who are superstars and who have cult followings of their own. Sometimes that management can be tantamount to walking a tightrope, where the cost of slipping may be defeat and embarrassment at the international level.
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In the past, much has been written about the ego clashes between Merchant-Pataudi, Gavaskar-Kapil, Tendulkar-Dravid, Kohli-Rohit, to name a few. Some may have been real, several are purely imaginary – the creation of media persons who may have tried to make their dream career of Bollywood scriptwriting come true via cricket.
But in recent times, a very public change of guard made extensive headlines. Hardik Pandya moved from the Gujarat Titans (GT), where he had a very successful stint – winning the IPL in the inaugural year of the Ahmedabad-based franchise – to the Mumbai Indians (MI). Apparently, his pre-condition was that he would be skipper. The team owner, Nita Ambani, seemed to have accepted. Rohit Sharma – a five time IPL winning captain, the most successful on par with Dhoni – was removed as captain and Pandya replaced him.
The replacement of a vastly successful captain with someone from another state seemed to stun followers of Mumbai Indians. To outsiders, which included the watching army of scribes, sponsors and of course, the mass of audience, the brazen move smacked of a high degree of greed on the part of Pandya, and high-handedness of the team owners.
The IPL season that followed was a disaster on and off the field, for both MI as well as Pandya. While the team crashed out, Pandya found himself being booed by MI’s cult followers at his home ground. Worse followed! Pandya had opened the bowling in the first IPL game but did not bowl in subsequent matches, causing eyebrows to be raised. Even the respected Kiwi, Simon Doull, mentioned that this was odd. The unstated suspicion was that Pandya was hiding an injury.
The origin of the injury story was also rooted in facts. On October 19th last year, in an ODI world cup match against Bangladesh at Pune, Pandya was brought into the attack by skipper Rohit Sharma. Three balls later, Pandya had to leave the ground, injured. And just like that, his world cup was over. And the Indian team was left scrambling to cover up his absence as an all rounder.
Question marks over his fitness followed. Following this injury, Pandya underwent a period of rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and the Kiran More Cricket Academy in his hometown of Vadodara, Gujarat. He remained absent from all forms of the game from the time of his injury to mid-March 2024. And then he was leading MI but holding back from bowling. The conspiracy theorists made hay!
And then came the bombshell announcement! On April 30th, the Ajit Agarkar led panel of selectors announced the Indian team for the T20 World Cup, to be played in the West Indies and USA. With Rohit Sharma as the captain and Hardik Pandya as vice-captain! Fans and former players were shocked. To some, such as Irfan Pathan, it seemed Pandya was being given preferential treatment. Commenting on Pandya’s selection, he said “That shouldn't happen because it sends the wrong message to the rest of the team. When they see one player receiving special treatment, it disrupts the team environment. Cricket isn't like tennis; it's a team sport where equality is vital. Every player should be treated fairly and equally…”
