First David Miller, now Mohammed Shami: Hardik Pandya draws flak for insulting senior players

IPL 2022: Gujarat Titans's skipper Hardik Pandya gestures at Mohammed Shami during the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday.

Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Hardik Pandya drew the ire of cricket lovers after he was seen shouting at fast bowler Mohammed Shami as the team faced Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Monday.

Pandya was visibly upset with Shami when the latter  did not go all out for a catch which could have dismissed SRH's Rahul Tripathi.

In the 13th over, with Pandya back at the bowling end, Tripathi hit the ball and sent it flying towards deep third man. Shami was standing in the position and could have completed the catch had he ran forward. He, however, chose to stay and even moved back a couple of steps to collect the ball on the bounce.

An incensed Pandya was seen screaming at Shami after the fielding effort.

Twitter remained divided on its opinion of Mohammed Shami's action. While some feel that Shami should have tried to catch the ball, others believe that the seasoned cricketer knew it was a risky catch and so chose to defend against a possible boundary.

But, the microblogging platform was united in its criticism of Hardik Pandya with most calling him unworthy of being a captain and others asking him to get some manners.

Dear Hardik, you are a terrible captain. Stop taking it out on your teammates, particularly someone as senior as Shami. #IPL#IPL2022#GTvsSRHpic.twitter.com/9yoLpslco7

— Bodhisattva #DalitLivesMatter (@insenroy) April 11, 2022

Repeat after me. Hardik Pandya is not captaincy material. He is a hot head who blames others for his mistakes. #HardikPandya — Lavina (@Lav_Qnet) April 12, 2022

@MdShami11 International wickets 378 across formats, 312 first class wickets, #HardikPandya International wickets 115, look at the attitude of this overrated lesser. Someone please teach him manners as well. @IPL@bhogleharsha@harbhajan_singh@YUVSTRONG12@GautamGambhirpic.twitter.com/0ksrlkZ6sm

— peerzada masroor (@peerzadamasroor) April 12, 2022

Can’t believe Hardik Pandya just insulted senior player and an Indian legend Mohd. Shami for not taking the risky catch and preferred to save the boundary. Hardik’s temper tantrums during tight situations have been outright cringe. #GTvsSRH#HardikPandya — Faa_s Kkj (@FaaKkj) April 12, 2022

#HardikPandya shouting at a senior player like #Shami who did exceptionally well for India and the IPL team is a sheer arrogance that got to him more with captaincy. Shame on you and you proved that dogs and fools shouldn't be given a baton.#SRHvGT#GTvsSRH#Shami#MohammedShami

— Sachin Dhondge (@SachinDhondge70) April 12, 2022

You need to pipe down mate @hardikpandya7. #HardikPandyapic.twitter.com/C8RLkhWbUH — KL Rehul (@OrangeCapPopa) April 12, 2022

Sunrisers Hyderabad chased down Gujarat Titans's target of 163, and won the match by eight wickets with five balls to spare.

This, however, is not the first time that Pandya has received flak for his treatment of senior players during IPL 2022. In the match against Punjab Kings last week, Pandya unleashed his over teammate David Miller after he was run out in unfortunate dismissal during the final-over.