NEW DELHI:
Shreyas Gopal
, a teammate of
Hardik Pandya
at Mumbai Indians, believes that the hostile treatment from fans in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) will only motivate Hardik to bounce back with improved performances. Gopal shared his thoughts on Wednesday, addressing the current situation.
Hardik was named as the captain of MI for the
IPL 2024
season, taking over from the beloved
Rohit Sharma
, who had led the team to five titles.
This change in leadership has not been well-received by the fans, who have shown their dissatisfaction by booing Hardik at various stadiums.
Reflecting on his friendship with Hardik, Gopal emphasised that the MI skipper possesses the mental fortitude to remain unaffected by the crowd's behavior.
"Hardik is mentally very strong to get unnerved by the behaviour of the crowd," Gopal stated, expressing confidence in his teammate's resilience.
"I have known Hardik for a decade, and nothing much has changed. He is a really tough guy, and something like this is only going to motivate him," said Gopal during a press conference ahead of the clash against
Punjab Kings in Mullanpur, Chandigarh.
"The way he has taken it so far is very inspiring for a lot of us. Although it's not easy to take it daily, he is strong and kudos to him.
"He has not let it affect him personally. But, it will probably be there in his head."
Mumbai Indians, led by Hardik, have had a challenging start to the season, securing victories in only two out of their six matches. Currently, they find themselves in the eighth position on the points table, which features ten teams.
Gopal, however, said the dressing room atmosphere remains positive and the team will bounce back.
"The team atmosphere is great. Unfortunately, we couldn't cross the line on the winning side in the last match, but every team goes through ups and downs. When you start hitting a purple patch, you start clicking as a team," he said.
"We did see a couple of good games when we came together as a group. We must put all aspects (batting, bowling and fielding) together in one match. We have been playing some really good cricket.
"History says that (we get off to poor starts). But, when we come together, the character is shown. This team always has that X-factor that stands up and wants to prove to themselves that they are good enough to win championships."
(With PTI inputs)
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