New Delhi [India], March 29 : Australian batter Steven Smith is eager to see the kind of reception Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya receives in his first home game as the captain of the franchise at the Wankhede Stadium.
In his debut season as the captain of MI, Hardik has faced a set of challenges. The backlash from fans after his appointment as the skipper of the franchise has led to a lot of trolling and criticism from fans.
During the pre-season press conference, Hardik and head coach Mark Boucher were questioned about the change in captaincy. In his replies, Hardik didn't address the questions directly, which further triggered a backlash on social media.
In their second game of the IPL on Wednesday, Hardik was booed by some sections of fans in Hyderabad. MI ended up on the losing side with a 31-run defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the highest-scoring game in the history of the tournament.
Smith acknowledged Hardik's struggle in the beginning of the season and is looking forward to the reception that the 30-year-old receives from the Wankhede crowd.
"Hardik is in the middle of a challenging time, losing the first two games of their IPL season. It's a big one for him. He's filling big shoes with Rohit Sharma, who's been the most successful captain [with Dhoni] in IPL history, lifting five titles, and it hasn't started well for him," Smith said on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show.
"So he's under a little bit of pressure at the moment and it'll be interesting to see what the reception's like in their first home game at Wankhede in a couple of days' time. We have heard a few boos going around at the grounds, which... that's been disappointing from my aspect. But I'm intrigued to see what the reception's like in Mumbai. We know how big a star Rohit is and how much he is loved inside that stadium," he added.
Some of the decisions that Hardik has made in his first two games as the captain of MI have also become a reason for criticism.
Smith pointed out the tactical errors that he feels the MI skipper has made in the first two games, which include Hardik bowling ahead of Jasprit Bumrah.
"I feel like he's under a little bit of pressure. I think he's made a few tactical errors in the first couple of games: batting himself a little bit low, probably in the first one, is my assessment. And then, in particular in the second one, [Jasprit] Bumrah only bowling one over in the first 13 overs was in my mind just a little bit mindblowing," Smith said. "He [Bumrah] is the best bowler in the world and to have only bowled one over when the team's got 173 on the board in the 12th over, I was in disbelief, to be honest," Smith said.
"I'm sure he is going to learn from that. As a captain, you have to have plans in place for the start of the game. And clearly the plan was to bowl Bumrah straight up to Heinrich Klassen. But you've got to shift your plans when things aren't going well. And it didn't look like they shifted. They sort of just kept doing the same thing. It was a bit of a blunder in his first outings," he added.
MI will be back in action on Monday to play their first home game at the Wankhede Stadium of the ongoing season against the Rajsthan Royals.