Suryakumar Yadav consoles Hardik Pandya post MI’s loss to LSG days after rumours of rift

Reports throughout IPL 2024 have indicated that all is not well between Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya as Mumbai Indians incurred a forgettable campaign, finishing bottom of the table. But a recent report added that Suryakumar Yadav, along with Tilak Varma, are likely part of Rohit’s team in the clash of the two senior players on the franchise, who will, in over a fortnight, be leading the Indian team together as the captain and vice-captain respectively in the T20 World Cup. However, Suryakumar shut the talks about the rumour after he was spotted consoling a disappointed Hardik after MI’s loss against Lucknow Super Giants on Friday.

MI were the first side to be eliminated from the race to the playoffs this season. Despite the horrendous run, they had the opportunity to end their campaign on a winning note when they took on Lucknow at home, at the Wankhede Stadium. But the problems remained as MI succumbed to an 18-run loss in the chase, thus ending their season at the bottom of the table with just four wins and 10 losses.

Earlier this week, a report in Dainik Jagran said that ahead of the match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, Rohit was seen sitting on the sidelines with Suryakumar and Tilak after wrapping up his batting practice session. However, the moment Hardik walked out to have a session at the nets, the trio got up and walked towards the other side of the ground.

While the report indicated that Suryakumar clearly picked his side in the battle between Rohit and Hardik, which potentially began when MI surprising removed the 37-year-old from the captaincy role ahead of the 2024 season to name the all-rounder as the new leader, the Mumbai batter shut all the talks after he was spotted consoling the captain on Friday post the team’s loss against Lucknow.

Suryakumar had his arms around Hardik’s shoulders and had a small chat as the captain looked disappointed at not emulating what he had pulled off in his two seasons with Gujarat Titans.

Speaking about the loss and MI’s run in IPL 2024, Hardik admitted that there wasn’t any one particular factor that played a key role in their poor show.

Speaking to the commentators after the match, he said: “We did not play good quality cricket, eventually costed us the whole season. It’s a professional world. Have to always come out and put our best foot forward. But yes, as a group we could not play quality cricket or smart cricket. Too early to point out what went wrong. The whole season kind of went wrong. We can pass this game as another one.”