Former Indian player and the 2007 T20 World Cup winner, Robin Uthappa, revealed that Mumbai Indians’ skipper Hardik Pandya is dealing with mental health issues due to constant booing in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
Pandya replaced Rohit Sharma as the franchise’s skipper, a decision that was not welcomed by fans as he had to deal with a hostile environment in several stadiums.
Uthappa stated that Pandya has the potential to become India’s all-time great and the criticism and trolling that he is facing is hurting him.
"He is a guy who has got the calibre and potential to be an all-time great for the Indian team. He was let go by the team which discovered him, he went to another franchise. After winning 3-4 titles with them, he left. He must have felt a little bad; that will be there. He went to GT, won a title and finished runners-up in another. Then the conversation began," Uthappa said.
"The mocking, trolling, the memes about his fitness. You don't think it hurts him? It hurts him. It hurts any human being. How many people actually know the reality of it? Hardik is dealing with mental health issues, for sure.
“We, as people, I understand, as Indians, we are emotional. But it is not right to impose this kind of treatment on any human being. It is unbecoming as a society for us to do that to someone and be okay with it. We should not be laughing along with it. We should not be forwarding these memes."
Remember, out of seven matches played this season so far, MI only managed to win three and lost four. They are currently ranked seventh in the IPL points table with six points. The five-time IPL champions are having a hard with maintaining consistency as their chances of playing the play-offs are minimal.
- Hardik Pandya
