It is only a matter of time until Hardik Pandya hits form in the IPL, warned Kieron Pollard, saying he was "sick and fed up" of the flak levelled at the all-rounder. Pandya has been booed incessantly since replacing veteran Rohit Sharma as captain of five-time champions the Mumbai Indians for the current edition of the Twenty20 tournament.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With the 30-year-old Pandya again failing to fire with bat and ball, Mumbai slumped to their fourth loss in six games this term when they faced Chennai Super Kings on Sunday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Mumbai batting coach Pollard gave his full support afterwards to Pandya, who captained Gujarat to the IPL title in 2022 and is expected to be a key player for India at the T20 World Cup in June.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I am sick and fed up of (people) looking to pinpoint individuals," Pollard said after Mumbai's 20-run loss at their Wankhede Stadium.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Cricket is a team game at the end of the day.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"This is an individual that is going to represent the country in less than six weeks' time, and all are going to cheer him and want him to do well."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pandya leaked 26 runs in the final over of Chennai's innings including three straight sixes by M.S. Dhoni.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The all-rounder then scored just two with the bat in the hosts' unsuccessful chase of 207.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was scathing.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Absolutely ordinary bowling, ordinary captaincy," he told Star Sports.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pandya has been under the cosh ever since returning to Mumbai from Gujarat and taking over the captaincy from the much-loved Rohit.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Rohit, 36, who leads India in all formats, is an icon in Mumbai after leading them to five IPL titles.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pollard said it was "high time we try to encourage and stop nitpicking and see if we can get the best out of one of the great all-rounders India has produced".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"He can bat, bowl and field, and has an X-factor about him," said the former West Indies all-rounder of Pandya.<\/p>\r\n\r\n