Shane Watson’s Advice to Mumbai Skipper

It was time for someone to warn Hardik Pandya that this is what would happen. Cinema culture was held responsible by Ravichandran Ashwin. As Steve Smith put it, none of it matters. According to Ravi Shastri, there was a way to prevent the entire captaincy issue at the Mumbai Indians (MI). Michael Vaughan claimed he had never seen an Indian audience jeer one of their own, but Adam Gilchrist only emphasized how renowned Rohit Sharma is. In the midst of Hardik's trial by fire in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has chosen to support the MI captain as views are flying high and Mumbai is shooting blanks under his leadership.

Looking back, what actions would MI have taken to ensure a smooth leadership change like to that of the Chennai Super Kings if they could have traveled back in time and communicated with Hardik. For Hardik, retrospect is an ineffective instrument. You live, learn, and move on, as Watson correctly said in response to question concerning the negative feedback fans had for Hardik. Former Australian all-rounder Watson believes that even MI would have been shocked to learn that Hardik would have such a harsh welcome at home upon his elevation to the captaincy.

Time for Hardik to put on Headphones:

‘For Hardik, the one thing that he's done so well throughout his career is been able to just shut out the noise, put his blinkers on, just put his headphones on and just focus on his ability to be able to execute his skill under immense pressure and he's done that. He has done that for the Mumbai Indians in the past. He obviously did that for the Gujarat Titans as well, under extreme pressure. With the bat and the ball, and as a leader - the way you silence the critics for the backlash you got is by performance! And he has got the platform to be out there and perform’
~Shane Watson added.