All-arounder Tim David of the Mumbai Indians on Wednesday defended captain Hardik Pandya’s scoring rate in the present Indian Premier League, claiming he has been the “glue” keeping the five-time winners’ batting unit together.
This season, Pandya has failed to go ballistic in both the middle and lower order, despite striking at 138.46 to score 108 runs in four matches thus far while batting at different locations.

In the first match, Pandya gave way under duress after making a four-ball 11 in a challenging chase against his previous team, Gujarat Titans; in the second, the MI captain could only muster a 20-ball 24 at No. 5 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the midst of a daunting 278 chase.
Although Pandya’s 21-ball 34 was the highest scoring innings in a low-scoring game against the Rajasthan Royals on a challenging track, his 33-ball 39 stood in stark contrast to the other MI batsmen who went all out to help the side set its highest total of 234/5 at home in the previous encounter.
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“We’ve discussed our play in discussions. On the day of the Mumbai Indians’ match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, David addressed the media at the team’s training session at Wankhede Stadium. “Hardik has been playing a really important job for our team.”
“Observe the previous game; we had a great deal of difficulty gaining momentum in the latter stages. David said, “Hardik had a fantastic innings that laid the groundwork for me and Romario to continue with in the end.
“He had that one ball that he could have smashed for six when we moved ourselves on a platform. The way the game is played, he is out because he whacked it high off the bat and missed the middle.”
According to the Australian all-rounder, some batting lineups, like as the Kolkata Knight Riders, might be able to collapse with the impact player rule in place, but Pandya keeps the innings together.
“Maybe a little bit less responsibility comes with the added flexibility of having an extra batter. Some are abandoning prudence or experimenting with a little bit more boldness. Both directions are covered. KKR has been scoring a lot of runs with their current style of play.
They were performing the same way the other night. They wanted to make a large splash or break a little. The intermediate order is where they tumble in a heap.”
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“In the last game, Hardik was a middle-order player, as I mentioned at the beginning. He was the link that kept us together and allowed us to play freely in the back end,” he said.
“Hardik’s performance as a member of the squad has been outstanding. At some time, we will require that. It happens to me and other guys at different periods.”
According to David, the squad is very satisfied with the way their captain has batted thus far.
You could see the first game, in which Hardik scored two goals in the first two balls. complete trust in him. His strength and excellence are well known to us. He will win games for us when he is in that scenario, David continued.