Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers lashed out after his comments on Hardik Pandya's captaincy were portrayed in a negative light. The Proteas legend felt that his statement of Hardik's captaincy not always being “genuine” and being a bit ”ego-driven" was taken out of context.

Hardik's captaincy on return to Mumbai Indians came under the scanner this season as the five-time champions were the first team to get knocked out of the playoffs race. The Indian all-rounder failed to inspire his team on his return after two years as some of his decisions also faced backlash from fans and critics.

Meanwhile, De Villiers also talked about Pandya's captaincy in one of his videos on YouTube, in which he made some unfiltered comments about it. However, he has now slammed the media to take it out of context.

“I see there is a lot of activity on X about the comments I made about Hardik Pandya and Mumbai Indians. And it’s a shame that journalism and reporting has got so low (laughs). And I am very happy that some of you have pointed it out, taking some of those comments out and leaving the rest,” De Villiers said in the video.

The Proteas legend expressed his admiration for Hardik's captaincy and said he love the way Hardik leads the side.

“I very clearly stated and I will state this again – I absolutely love the way Hardik Pandya plays his game. I love the way he captains. All I can say is, his style of captaincy is something that he has certainly worked on. It’s not something that you can just walk out of the door and you are a brave captain," he added.

‘I played exactly the same way’: AB de Villiers

On calling Hardik's captaincy wasn't “always genuine”, Hardik justified his statement and clarified what he was trying to say.

“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 my 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,” he added.

Under Hardik's leadership, MI have won just four matches out of 13 and they will finish their campaign with the league stage match against Lucknow Super Giants.

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