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Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya’s former Gujarat Titans (GT) teammate Mohammed Shami was baffled by his decision to bat at no.7 in the run chase on March 24. After former skipper Rohit Sharma's wicket, Pandya sent Tilak Varma and when Dewald Brevis was dismissed, Tim David walked out to bat as Hardik held himself back. He could not finish the game and is widely criticised for his decision to demote himself in the batting order.
Shami compared Hardik's decision with that of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Pat Cummins' as he held himself back in the run chase against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) too.
"See all this left-right combination thing is always there. But I don't get it. Even in the KKR vs SRH game we talked about this. About how matured Pat Cummins is. You have to be one step ahead and say I should take this responsibility instead of giving it to someone else," said Shami.
Hardik is almost a tailender?
Shami pointed out that Hardik promoted himself to no.3 and 4 when he was captain of GT. He wonders why the 30-year-old couldn't do the same for Mumbai as well.
"When it comes to Hardik, you used to bat at No.3 for Gujarat. You have come in at three and No.4. So why do you have difficulty doing it for Mumbai? At No.7, it seems like Hardik is almost a tailender. When you're coming in at No.7, it's like you are bringing in the pressure upon yourself."
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"I think if had Hardik had come in earlier, the game wouldn't have gone that far," said Shami.
Hardik fails to crack the tough challenge
Hardik came to bat after the completion of the 18th over. He got to play just one delivery in the penultimate over. In the final over, MI needed 19 runs to win. Hardik got the over off to a perfect start with a six off Umesh Yadav. On the second ball, he hit a four to make it nine runs from four balls to win. On the third ball, he could not pick the slower one and lost his wicket. MI lost the match by nine runs and continued their streak of losing the first match of the season since 2012.
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