After the Mumbai Indians let the Sunrisers Hyderabad score 277, the highest team total in IPL history, former Chennai Super Kings batter Ambati Rayudu has questioned Hardik Pandya’s captaincy and tactics. Instead of giving his ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah the ball, Pandya bowled two overs in the powerplay.
Instead of trying to stop the run of play, he decided to hold Bumrah. The plan backfired, as Gerald Coetzee and Kwena Maphaka continued to go for big runs. Rayudu has not only questioned his planning but also the overall straight of the Mumbai Indians bowling unit.
“I haven’t seen the Mumbai Indians bowl this bad in my career. It seems like Hardik Pandya hasn’t come up with any plans,” he said on the air during the SRH vs MI match.
Irfan Pathan joins the Hardik Pandya criticism train
After watching the Mumbai Indians bowlers barring Bumrah getting tonked all over the parks, former SRH player Irfan Pathan labeled Pandya as an ‘ordinary captain’. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), he wrote:
“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.”
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