3 issues at Mumbai Indians Hardik Pandya will have to fix as captain

Mumbai Indians created headlines on Friday by announcing that Hardik Pandya will take over the franchise's captaincy from incumbent Rohit Sharma for the 2024 IPL season.

Pandya, who moved to his former franchise after having spent two seasons at Gujarat Titans, will have a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.

MI's global head of performance Mahela Jayawardena had this to say about the development:

"It is part of legacy building and staying true to the MI philosophy of being future-ready. Mumbai Indians have always been blessed with exceptional leadership right from Sachin to Harbhajan and Ricky to Rohit, who while contributing to the immediate success have always had an eye on strengthening the team for the future."

He added:

"It is in keeping with this philosophy that Hardik Pandya will assume captaincy of Mumbai Indians for the IPL 2024 season."

There will be quite a few challenges that Pandya has to deal with when he assumes the leader's role for the IPL next season. In this listicle, we bring to you three issues that Hardik Pandya will have to solve as captain at Mumbai Indians:

#1. Maintain a good balance of veterans and youngsters

Although this was something that former skipper Rohit Sharma did well, Pandya will have to add his own touch to it. Mumbai Indians have long been known as a franchise that promotes young talent and gives the veterans the freedom to play their game as well.

Pandya can come in as a good mediator here and try to bring a balance between the two. The likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma and Pandya himself man the old guard whereas Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis and the others consist of the new generation. How well this gap is bridged will decide MI's chances for another title.

#2. Add weight and sensibility to the middle-order

While Pandya's inclusion in the side will naturally add a lot of weight to its middle order, what he can do as captain is give the youngsters some sensible ideas on how to rotate strike better and find gaps.

Although the likes of Tilak Varma and Dewald Brevis have enough experience in the IPL by now, they will welcome the arrival of Pandya in the lower middle order.

His expertise will be used by these youngsters to take their game to the next level and help MI do well in the IPL next season.

#3. Add quality spinners to the squad

One of the biggest holes in MI's roster is their lack of top-quality spinners. Pandya needs to have a talk with the ownership group and strategies as to how they can get quality spinners into their squad.

As of now, they have just Kartikeya Singh, Piyush Chawla and Shams Mulani in their retained list of players. While all three are more than decent bowlers, MI will need to add some reinforcement to their squad and build their bench strength. Pandya's inputs will be crucial here since he will be the man leading them on the field.