Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya was slammed for his poor captaincy against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Jaipur on 22nd April by former Indian batsman Manoj Tiwary. Hardik Pandya has received a lot of backslash and has endured a hard time in all facets- batting, bowling, and captaincy in this season. Also at the same time, the management replacing Rohit Sharma with Hardik did not go well for the franchise and raised a spark amongst the fanbase.
Mumbai’s encounter with Rajasthan was simply the continuation of Hardik’s struggle. MI endured a fifth defeat in their 8th match to remain in the seventh position on the points table. After posting a mildly 179/9 in 20 overs, MI bowlers seemed to be out of their form. RR chased the target in just 18.4 overs while nine wickets were still in hand. This raised more questions on Hardik’s captaincy.
MI are not making to the playoffs- Manoj Tiwary
While speaking to Cricbuzz post-game, Tiwary slammed Hardik Pandya’s captaincy by saying it could cost MI a playoff spot
“If this kind of captaincy continues, MI are not making the playoffs. Previously, players were with Rohit Sharma. Now it feels like that MI players have not bought into Hardik Pandya as the captain of the side,” said Manoj Tiwary.
Manoj Tiwary especially pointed out the problem of not opting to let pacer Jasprit Bumrah start with the first over, which allowed the RR to get a fast start at 11/0. he further went on to say that:
“If you have Jasprit Bumrah in the line-up why will you not bowl him in the first over? Buttler came off a hundred, Jaiswal was not in the best form, you need to give your best bowler the best chance of picking a wicket,” he stated,
“When Hardik Pandya came in, he got hit for 2 boundaries, and that took the shine away from the new ball slightly, and the margin of swing reduced. Things got easier for the batter. I don’t see MI progressing in the points table because these silly mistakes are being made,” he added.
Regrettably, Hardik’s batting has been not up to the mark because he scored a painstaking run-a-ball 10 to only prevent MI from scoring high runs. The 30-year-old has only been able to achieve 151 runs at an average of 21.57 in eight innings and bagged four wickets for an average of over 46 with the ball.
Cricket is simple, as long as we keep it simple- Hardik Pandya
Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya pointed out the basic mistakes made in their defeat against RR but also resisted the temptation to make any additional changes in the lineup. The loss has put MI in an unfamiliar position, having to win at least five out of their last six matches.
Hardik went on to say that:
“What we can do is learn from this game and the mistakes which we have made, rectify it, and make sure that we don’t make it. Progression is very important. Within the team, individually, we will have to accept our flaws and maybe work on those.
“I don’t believe much in chip and chop, I like to back players and the focus would always be to play good cricket, sticking to our plans and making sure that we don’t make the basic errors. Cricket is simple, as long as we keep it simple, it’s nice,” said Hardik at the post-match presentation.
The Mumbai Indians will enjoy a five-day break before facing DC on Saturday, April 27.