IPL 2025: Hardik Pandya as flight commander has enormous thrust to boost Mumbai Indians | Opinion

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Mumbai Indians, the very mention of the team name is awe inspiring. On Wednesday (March 19), at the pre-IPL 2025 briefing of the team, skipper Hardik Pandya spoke at length. He will miss the first match of this season, a carry-forward suspension.

In his place, Suryakumar Yadav will lead the side. This is an IPL side which is loaded with stars and stats. In fact, it is like that old Jumbo 747 airplane which has now been phased out by many airlines for reasons of fuel economy as well as need for less seating inside an aircraft.

The last few seasons have been hard for Mumbai Indians. And the storm which broke out last year is still fresh in mind. The MI bosses decided to buy Hardik Pandya and relocate him from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians in 2024. There was more than a storm. It led to hatred for Hardik to such a point as if he had committed some big crime. There was no fault of his, really.

Like any business deal, a player changing franchise in any sport is acceptable. Hardik Pandya did not have a great season in the last IPL in 2024. But what he has been able to establish and prove, he is a committed cricketer for India. How does one forget the roles he played in the ICC T20 World Cup last year as well as the Champions Trophy this year, where the massive sixes he smashed lit up the Dubai skyline.

Hardik is a maverick and at the same time a gem of a guy. Hardik Pandya has been open when he said on Wednesday, he will have the support of multiple captains/leaders. The list included ODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma, Surya, who is the T20 captain, as well as Jasprit Bumrah, the Test vice captain.

When Bumrah returns to cricket, nobody knows. It is a secret which has not been shared. And it goes down as something strange, since lack of clarity on an injury, recovery and return only fuels the rumour mills further.

Back to Hardik Pandya, he has shown appetite and energy to be a quiet performer. For someone who has faced maelstrom in personal life as well, the BCCI decided he should not be burdened with captaincy or vice captaincy. This was a decision made last July after Gautam Gambhir took over.

Was it the most correct one can be argued, since SKY has been a massive failure in the T20 internationals. Yes, the think-tank which will look at captaincy in the ICC T20 World Cup to be held at home in 2026, for SKY does not become an automatic leader.

This is where, Hardik Pandya would do well to establish himself in the IPL 2025. To be the flight commander of a side loaded with huge jet engines which offer thrust like Rohit, SKY and Bumrah at some point of time or the other is a luxury. But then, IPL 2025 will be so different.

On paper, Mumbai Indians look loaded with big guns. Hardik will not hesitate in taking up the challenge. Last year he may have been abused for no rhyme or reason by fans who went berserk. This year, Hardik Pandya is in a much better frame of mind.

After all, when he meets Mumbai colleagues in contests he has not played much first class cricket with in recent seasons, Shreyas Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane, now captains of Punjab and Kolkata in the IPL, you know how the face of IPL 2025 has changed.

Hardika Pandya knows, if MI do well this time and he can make heads turn, it will be good for him in many ways as a leader again in Indian cricket. His white ball credentials cannot be ignored.