“Same people will be singing your praises…”: Jaffer backs struggling Hardik to play “crucial knocks” in T20 WC

New Delhi [India], May 1 (ANI): Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer expressed his disappointment with fans trolling Indian all-rounder and Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya for his poor performances in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), saying that during the T20 World Cup starting from June in West Indies and USA, the all-rounder will play some crucial knocks and the trolls will be singing his praise.

Hardik’s disappointing season with the bat, ball and as captain continued as MI slipped to their seventh loss in 10 games this season with a four-wicket defeat to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. Though Pandya took two wickets, he was dismissed for a golden duck.

In the ongoing season, Pandya has scored just 197 runs at an average of 21.88 and a strike rate of 150.38, with the best score of 46 runs. He has also taken just six wickets at an average of 42.16 and an economy rate of 11.00. The key reason for his social media trolling and hate is his controversial move back to MI following a two-year-stint with the Gujarat Titans (GT), with who he won the title in their debut season as a captain in 2022. With him taking over as captain from five-time IPL champion Rohit Sharma, he has become a victim of a fan-war, with Rohit fans accusing him of betraying the franchise and the captain which put him on the map.

Jaffer took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “Criticise his performance as much as you want but it’s extremely disappointing to see the constant personal trolling and attacks. Stay strong@hardikpandya7 next month you’ll be playing crucial knocks in WC and the same people will be singing your praise. #LSGvMI #T20WorldCup”

Notably, Hardik has a history of making crucial contributions in white-ball cricket for India. Be it his 40 runs against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2022 and his century partnership with Virat Kohli during a tense, but a successful run-chase of 160 at a fully-packed Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), his hard-hitting half-century against England in semifinals or the two wickets in his final over during the 2016 T20 World Cup against Bangladesh, which saved India from an embarassing group stage exit, Hardik has pulled off some valuable and fighting performances irrespective of the result.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday announced India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, which will be hosted in the West Indies and USA, starting on June 1.

Rohit Sharma will lead India in the showpiece tournament, while Hardik Pandya will be his deputy.

India are placed in Group A of the tournament alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and co-hosts USA. Their campaign begins on 5 June against Ireland at the newly-constructed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York before they take on Pakistan on June 9 in one of the most awaited matches of the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.