As AB de Villiers and Kevin Pietersen defended the Baroda all-rounder, who had recently come under fire for his performances, Gautam Gambhir reminded everyone that Hardik Pandya is an IPL-winning captain.

Since Hardik took over for the departed Rohit Sharma as the Mumbai Indians captain in advance of the 2024 Indian Premier League, there was a great deal of controversy around the decision. The five-time winners were the first team eliminated because they were unable to perform even close to their capabilities. The 30-year-old has been under fire from legendary cricketers AB de Villiers and Kevin Pietersen for his performances in the current season of the lucrative league.

The two-time Ipl Champion Captain Gambhir defended Hardik by claiming that de Villiers and Pietersen’s captaincy wasn’t particularly successful. The current coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) claimed that de Villiers, a former South African batter and mainstay of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), accomplished nothing in the IPL other than score runs for his team.

“How did they perform personally while serving as captain? AB de Villiers and Kevin Pietersen, in my opinion, never demonstrated any leadership qualities during their careers. Nothing. I believe they are the worst leader if you look at their records. Aside from his own accomplishments, I don’t believe AB de Villiers has accomplished much in the IPL. From a team perspective, I don’t think Hardik Pandya has accomplished anything; he is still an IPL champion captain. Thus, it is best to compare oranges to oranges only. In a conversation with Sportskeeda, Gambhir stated, “Not apples to oranges.”

With KKR, Gautam Gambhir works his magic once more.

KKR had placed seventh in the previous two IPL seasons. Gambhir was brought in as the Kolkata-based team’s mentor ahead of the 2024 season, and he has been successful in instilling a winning mindset among the group. The Knights were the first club to qualify for the playoffs as a result, winning nine of their 13 games.

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Remarkably, Gambhir has guided a team to the postseason for three straight seasons. The small-framed former cricketer from India guided the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to the playoffs in each of the previous two seasons.