Hardik Pandya came under severe criticism after Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batters made a mockery of the Mumbai Indians (MI) bowling attack in Match 8 of the IPL 2024 season at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Wednesday (March 27).
SRH rode on half-centuries from Travis Head (62 off 24) and Abhishek Sharma (63 off 23) to pile up 173/3 in just 12 overs after MI skipper won the toss and opted to bowl first. Until then, Hardik gave just one over to pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and his decision received a lot of flak from the fans and experts alike.
Former India all-rounder Yusuf Pathan tweeted, “#SRH ne 11 overs mein hi 160+ score kar liya hai, and @Jaspritbumrah93 ko abhi tak sirf ek over hi kyun diya gaya? Your best bowler ko toh ab bowl karna chahiye. This seems like bad captaincy to me. #IPL #SRHvsMi”.
Yusuf's brother Irfan Pathan didn't filter his words as he called Hardik Pandya's captaincy "ordinary".
"The captaincy of Hardik Pandya has been ordinary to say the least. Keeping Bumrah away for too long when the carnage was on was beyond my understanding," Irfan tweeted.
Ex-Australian cricketer Tom Moody was also critical of Hardik's move as he wrote on X: “Where is Jasprit Bumrah?? Game nearly done and your best bowler has only bowled ONE over! #SRHvMI”.
Notably, Hardik Pandya completed a high-profile trade from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians ahead of the IPL 2024 auction last December.
Soon after the trade, the all-rounder replaced Rohit as the MI skipper and the game against GT on Sunday (March 24) was his first at the helm of the five-time champions.
Hardik’s first assignment as MI captain didn’t yield positive result as the team suffered a narrow 6-run defeat at the hands of GT in Ahmedabad.
Chasing 169 to win, the five-time champions were cruising when Rohit Sharma (43) and Dewald Brevis (46) were batting together. However, their dismissals in quick succession triggered a collapse.
Pandya, who walked out at No. 7, smashed Umesh Yadav’s first two balls for a six and a boundary in the final over but he was caught at long-on on the third delivery for 11 as MI’s innings ended at 162/9 in 20 overs.
