Hardik Pandya Seeks Blessings At Somnath Temple In Gujarat Ahead Of MI Vs DC IPL 2024 Clash – WATCH
Under Hardik Pandya, Mumbai Indians have lost all their three games so far in IPL 2024. Pandya replaced Rohit Sharma at MI’s helm.
New Delhi: Following a poor start to his Mumbai Indians captaincy, Hardik Pandya visited Somnath Temple in Gujarat to seek blessings ahead of their clash against Delhi Capitals on Sunday in the ongoing IPL 2024. Pandya replaced Rohit Sharma as the new Mumbai Indians captain for IPL 2024 and the five-time champions have lost all their three games so far. To turn Mumbai Indians’ fortunes in IPL 2024, Pandya ended up at God’s feet to seek inspiration.
In a video shared by the temple’s trust, Pandya was caught offering prayers, seeking solace at the challenging start to his leadership tenure. The five-time champions are currently at the bottom of the points table with zero points.
#WATCH | Gujarat: Indian Cricket Team all-rounder Hardik Pandya offers prayers at Somnath Temple.
Source: Somnath Temple Trust pic.twitter.com/F8n05Q1LSA
— ANI (@ANI) April 5, 2024
Pandya returned to Mumbai Indians on the back of highly successful stint with Gujarat Titans. Scouted by Mumbai Indians back in 2015, Pandya moved to Gujarat Titans in 2022, leading them to title on debut season. He once again displayed his exceptional leadership skills in 2023, leading Gujarat Titans to the runners-up finish. It was his time at Gujarat Titans that led BCCI name him as India captain in a few T20I series.
However, Pandya has been a victim of severe criticism and trolling by the Mumbai Indians fans, especially Rohit Sharma loyalists. Booing followed Pandya wherever he had gone, even in his own Wankhede Stadium. During the coin toss against Rajasthan Royals, Pandya was constantly booed, even leading to presenter and former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar asking the crowd to ‘behave’.
Meanwhile, the good news for Mumbai Indians is that Suryakumar Yadav had trained with the team after returning from a long injury layoff. The 33-old aggressive batter was the first to arrive for the training session at the Wankhede Stadium, more than an hour before his teammates came for the afternoon session.
Suryakumar walked into one of the two nets and batted for more than an hour, not looking to exert himself but getting his body in rhythm and getting his strokes going a few days after he was given the clearance to join the Mumbai Indians’ squad by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) staff.
The right-handed batter unleashed strokes in all parts of the ground while batting against throwdown specialists and MI spinner Kumar Kartikeya. He hit the ball exactly the way he wanted, middling most of his strokes and also practiced his trademark flick shot over the fine-leg region.