NEW DELHI:
Hardik Pandya
's stint as captain of the Mumbai Indians continues to face scrutiny as the team stumbled to a 20-run loss against the Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Despite a brief resurgence with consecutive wins, Mumbai Indians faltered once again, amplifying the pressure on Pandya, both as a leader and a player.
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The match took a particularly bruising turn for Pandya when Chennai Super Kings' stalwart
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
hammered him for three consecutive sixes in the final over of the Chennai innings.
The Wankhede faithful, still skeptical of Pandya's captaincy, vocally expressed their dissatisfaction as his bowling came under severe scrutiny.
Former cricketers, including legends like
Sunil Gavaskar
and
Kevin Pietersen
, didn't hold back in their criticism of Pandya's performance. Gavaskar lambasted Pandya's bowling and captaincy, highlighting his failure to adapt to the situation and make tactical changes.
"One six is fine. The next one again a length ball when you know that this batter is looking for a length ball to hit. The third ball again, a full toss on the leg side and he’s looking for it and hits it for a six. Absolutely ordinary bowling, ordinary captaincy," Gavaskar remarked during the mid-innings analysis.
Pietersen echoed similar sentiments, questioning Pandya's decision-making and adaptability during the game. He pointed out Pandya's reluctance to switch to Plan B and emphasized the need for strategic changes when Plan A faltered.
"I saw a captain that had a plan A from a team meeting that was five hours ago and the captain didn’t want to go to Plan B when he should have," Pietersen criticized. He also expressed concern over Pandya's demeanor, suggesting that external pressures might be affecting his performance on the field.
Amidst the barrage of criticism, former cricketer
Irfan Pathan
took to Twitter to express his disappointment, highlighting Pandya's decision to bowl the final over as a lack of confidence in other bowling options and questioning his effectiveness as a death over bowler.
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