Former India cricketer Murali Kartik slammed Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya for not keeping strike in the final over during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. When MI needed 14 runs off four balls, Hardik denied the strike to Mitchell Santner against Avesh Khan's bowling and the five-time champions suffered a 12-run loss against LSG.
Santer came to bat after MI chose to retire Tilak Varma, who scored 25 off 23. He was struggling to score runs at crease. MI needed 22 in the last over, and Hardik Pandya smashed a six to reduce the equation to 16 runs needed off five balls. He retained the strike as a couple off the next ball but was denied a single after hitting the fourth delivery. With 14 needed off three balls, Pandya missed a delivery in the slot to seal MI's third loss in the ongoing tournament.
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Murali questioned Hardik's decision of not giving a strike to Santner during the last over when he was sent out in place of Tilak.
"I did not understand what MI were trying to do. If you feel that Tilak is not having a good day, he is not able to strike it well, you brought in Santner, and he scored 2 runs off 1 ball. If you brought Santner in with the belief that he can hit big, then why didn't they take a single in the last over? The shots that Pandya missed, who knows, Santner could have hit them for sixes," Kartik said on Cricbuzz.
"I think MS Dhoni started this trend of denying singles. Now many players are doing this," he added.
Five-time champions MI has had a forgetful outing in IPL 2025 so far; the franchise has played four matches and managed to register just one win. They are currently seventh in the points table. MI will now face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for their fifth clash of the tournament, which will take place on April 7 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.