Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya was on the receiving end of criticism again as the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions lost to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by four wickets in a close encounter. Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan lashed out at Hardik again for not being able to manage the team well on the ground. Pathan in a post on X wrote that the captain making too many mistakes is the reason behind MI sitting ninth on the points table despite the services of an in-form Jasprit Bumrah. He pointed out that even without Bumrah, the Rohit Sharma-led side was able to qualify for the playoffs in the last season.
“The team mumbai Indians that qualified last year didn’t had Jasprit Bumrah but this season they had his services. Still they are in this situation. Purely because the team wasn’t managed well on the ground. Too many mistakes by their captain Hardik Pandya. It’s the truth,” Pathan wrote.
Hardik was dismissed for a golden duck by Naveen-ul-Haq after LSG skipper KL Rahul won the toss and opted to bat first. After the batting collapse, MI managed to post 144/7 on the board. Hardik got timely breakthroughs for MI with the wickets of Rahul and Deepak Hooda. However, MI failed to keep the game alive till the last ball despite taking six wickets. He conceded 26 runs from his quota of four overs.
What Hardik said after defeat to LSG
After the defeat, Hardik said that losing early wickets was the main reason MI lagged behind in the game.
“I think losing early wickets is tough to recover from and that's what we couldn't do it (recover) today. You still have to see the ball and hit. We just missed those balls and got out, that has been the kind of season we have had so far,” Hardik said in the post-match presentation.
The 30-year-old lauded Nehal Wadhera who scored 46 runs from 41 balls. He believes that Wadhera may play for India in the future.
“I think he (Wadhera) did last year as well, he couldn't get opportunities earlier (in the tournament) but he will play a lot of IPL and (represent) India eventually,” the all-rounder added.
This was MI’s seventh defeat in 10 games. Even three consecutive wins won’t guarantee them a spot in the playoffs.
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