MI’s leadership experience will help Hardik: Jayawardene

Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene believes the wealth of leadership experience in the dressing room will be a significant advantage for captain Hardik Pandya, particularly in pressure situations during the Indian Premier League.

With Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav — India’s T20 World Cup-winning captains in 2024 and 2026 respectively — part of the Mumbai Indians set-up along with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and Mitchell Santner, Jayawardene feels the leadership group offers invaluable support both on and off the field.

“It’s great to have all this experience. Everyone brings that element. Even to have players like Trent, who has played a fair amount of cricket around the world, it’s great to have that,” Jayawardene said.

The MI coach emphasised that the franchise has consciously built a core group over the years, and the team is now reaping the rewards. “We are proud of that as well because that’s a core group that we built over many years. That’s a benefit that we reap from that,” he said. “The contribution that Ro brings in, Surya brings in, every other cricketer brings in — it’s massive. Hardik is enjoying that. He is quite open to getting those ideas and getting that help out there,” he said.

He also pointed out that Hardik’s role as an all-rounder makes the support even more valuable. “Especially him being an all-rounder, he needs that help on the field. Having these guys on the field is a massive plus,” Jayawardene said. “Not just on the field, but off the field as well… to have that kind of experience in our camp is a massive plus.”