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“He was there at Gujarat Titans. Had two fabulous seasons [one title and one runners-up finish]. So clearly as a leader he did something right there. And when he returned to Mumbai Indians, he had to deal with quite a bit. It’s not easy to replace an incumbent Indian captain, white-ball captain, such as Rohit Sharma. Five [six] titles in the IPL. He’s won a T20 World Cup. And Hardik comes and replaces him. You’ve got a lot of fandom going around in the country. You should have a thick skin to survive the social media these days.”
“I wouldn’t judge his captaincy much because the bowling has also leaked [runs in] every direction,” Ashwin said. “Every single time an over is bowled for six or seven runs, in comes a 15-run over. So what do you do as a captain? And sure, he’s made some calls that have been debatable. [But] captaincy is the result of how your team is making you look. So which is why I believe when you have a good season, don’t give too much credit to a captain. When you have a bad season, don’t pin it on him. And similar with the coach; the coach sends the players out. So you can’t blame him too much.”
That said, Ashwin did raise questions about Hardik’s physical fitness based on what he has seen of Hardik the batter.
“With his [Hardik’s] batting, I found something quite interesting and strange, which is how late he’s been on the ball. Is he going through something physically,” Ashwin asked. “We wouldn’t be able to know that if there is something, then maybe that physical aspect will bring him back. And if he gets better, he’ll come back to it. But he’s been late on the hard-length deliveries.
“He’s not someone who’s going to miss hard-length deliveries. He hits it 15 rows back. That’s a bit of a concern for me, whether he’s suffering something physically from a back issue or hands, or does he have a tennis elbow? Is his bat heavier [than it should be]? Does he need to recalibrate that? Those are things that I would want to know.
“Hardik is once-in-a-generation player. You don’t find such players. And if India finds itself in a certain T20 mastery now, Hardik’s been a linchpin in that. And to me, Hardik, the player, you can have a bad season. It’s digestible for me. Especially after you had a [T20] World Cup like that. Hardik likes a bit of space. He kind of stays in his own zone. So the only thing I’d be worried about is how late he’s been on the ball when he’s batting. Apart from that, it’s okay. I wouldn’t judge any of the other aspects of his game.”
