Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa slammed MI captain Hardik Pandya’s trolls and said that all this affects him and he has been dealing with mental health issues. Since the beginning of the 17th edition of the IPL, Pandya has found himself on the receiving end of fans’ criticism and trolls. Ahead of the IPL 2024 season, the MI all-rounder replaced their long-standing captain Rohit Sharma as the captain of the team.
Later, the five-time IPL winners went on to lose their first three games, which got him on fans’ radars and they questioned his capabilities. Apart from this, the 2022 IPL winning captain was booed whenever he appeared for a toss, including at MI’s home ground Wankhede Stadium. However, Pandya has maintained silence over the same and hasn’t spoken about it.
He is dealing with mental health issues: Robin Uthappa
Former India player Robin Uthappa slammed Pandya’s trolls and said that while he has never said anything about it, the MI captain has been dealing with serious mental issues. Uthappa appeared on The Ranveer Show, and NDTV quoted him as saying, “He is a guy who has got the calibre and potential to be an all-time great for the Indian team. He was let go by the team that discovered him, he went to another franchise. After winning 3-4 titles with them, he left. He must have felt a little bad; that will be there. He went to GT, won a title, and finished runners-up in another. Then the conversation began.”
Uthappa added, “The mocking, trolling, the memes about his fitness. You don't think it hurts him? It hurts him. It hurts any human being. How many people actually know the reality of it? Hardik is dealing with mental health issues, for sure. We, as people, I understand, as Indians, we are emotional. But it is not right to impose this kind of treatment on any human being. It is unbecoming as a society for us to do that to someone and be okay with it. We should not be laughing along with it. We should not be forwarding these memes."