• Source:JND
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IPL 2024: Gautam Gambhir has lashed out at AB de Villiers for his comments on Hardik Pandya's captaincy in the IPL 2024 that came on the back of Mumbai Indians' disappointing performances.

After MI's defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders last Saturday, de Villiers was quick to react on Hardik's captaincy, saying that his style to lead the side was ‘ego-driven’ and not always genuine.

“The captaincy style of Hardik Pandya is quite bravado. It’s ego-driven in a way, chest out,” De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.

“I don’t think how he walks on the field is always genuine, but he has decided that is his way of captaincy. Almost like MS (Dhoni). Cool, calm, collective, always got your chest out.”

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Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Gautam Gambhir was quick to respond and came in the defence of MI captain Pandya, saying that ABD can't comment like that on the all-rounder's captaincy as he himself hadn’t captained in such a capacity in the IPL.

“When they themselves did captaincy [were captains], what were their own performances like? I do not think that whether it is Kevin Pietersen or AB de Villiers, there has ever been performances in their careers from a leadership point of view. Nothing. If you look up their records, it would be worse than any other leader,” Gambhir hit back at de Villiers’ comments on Sportskeeda’s Match Ki Baat.

“I don’t think AB de Villiers has even captained any game in the IPL or ultimately achieved anything apart from his own scores. I do not think he has achieved anything from a team point of view. Hardik Pandya is still an IPL-winning captain. So, you should only compare orange to oranges, not apples to oranges.”

After witnessing a backlash on his comments, de Villiers once again took to his YouTube channel recently to clear the air, saying that people twisted his comments on Pandya.

“Why I said it’s always not genuine is because I played exactly the same way. I was not the soft-spoken, genuine AB de Villiers that I was at home. The guy you saw on the field was in a way ‘an act’. Sometimes, you have to put up a front and show the opposition that you are a force to reckon with. That’s what Hardik Pandya does,” stated de Villiers.

Notably, Pandya was brought back to MI from Gujarat Titans and made the new captain of the side, replacing Rohit Sharma for the role.

The five-time champions have had a horrible campaign in the IPL 2024 so far and are already out of the race for the playoff qualification.

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While MI remained at the bottom part of the points table for most of the season, skipper Pandya was also criticised by many for his own disappointing performances.

Talking about de Villiers, he is recognised as an RCB legend, having provided numerous of memorable moments while playing for them from 2011 to 2021 but never won the IPL trophy.