Hardik Pandya's selection of Deepak Chahar to bowl the final over against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the rain-affected IPL 2025 encounter did not impress Sunil Gavaskar. Chahar had to stop 15 runs from the final over.

After bowling a no-ball, Deepak Chahar conceded a boundary and a six in his opening three balls. GT won by three wickets after Hardik Pandya himself missed a simple run-out opportunity off the final ball.

The Mumbai Indians are now in fourth place with 14 points after the setback, which puts them in a precarious position in the playoff battle.

Hardik had performed well in similar circumstances on major platforms, including in the T20 World Cup final against South Africa last year, therefore, Gavaskar criticized him for not supporting himself in the pivotal over.

"As I explained earlier, because of the fact that he had bowled those final overs - and bowled them very well - he bowled over against Bangladesh where, I mean, we got 3 wickets, Bangladesh had to score 4 or 5, and India managed to win that game by 1. And then in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup last year in the West Indies, in Barbados, he bowled that final over and India win," Gavaskar said while speaking on JioStar.

On Tuesday, Hardik just bowled one over against his old team, but it was a costly one as he let up 18 runs while struggling to get his line and length quite right.

According to Gavaskar, MI has primarily utilized Chahar in powerplay overs to take advantage of swing from the new ball, therefore he is not used to bowling in the final five overs.

"So, with that, with one over left, I would have thought that - because, let's face it, also, you know, in commentary we heard that Deepak Chahar really hasn't bowled in the final 5 overs. This is probably, you know, one of those rare occasions, so he, you know, he's not used to bowling in the final overs. So, I think that is where the... uh... but, I mean, the game could have changed," Gavaskar added.

Gavaskar also spoke about MI’s slow over-rate penalty that meant they had one less fielder outside the circle and crashed their plans.

"I think the fact that they took their time with the over - so they had to penalise one field. So these things are things that can come in and, you know, cost you a place in the playoffs. And that is the reason why I think Mumbai Indians really have to sit down and talk about that," he added.

MI will next face PBKS in Dharamshala on May 11.