IPL 2024: ‘Hardik Pandya Responsible for Mumbai Indians’ Loss to KKR’ – Irfan Pathan

Prepend to the Content

Original Content: IPL 2024: ‘Hardik Pandya Responsible for Mumbai Indians’ Loss to KKR’ – Irfan Pathan

Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan again criticized Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya following their recent defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the ongoing IPL 2024.

Mumbai Indians lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by 24 runs while chasing 170. Despite Suryakumar Yadav scoring a half-century, they were bowled out for 145 runs, lacking sufficient support from other batters.

Pathan, a vocal critic of Pandya’s captaincy lately, once again placed blame on him. He stated that Hardik Pandya withheld his key bowlers when KKR were struggling at 55 for seven. This decision, according to Pathan, allowed KKR to stage a comeback while batting first.

“Instead of bringing his main bowlers, Hardik went to a bowler, who doesn’t have much experience. Mumbai lost the game when he gave the ball to Naman. His three overs allowed Venkatesh Iyer and Manish Pandey to make a comeback in the game.”

“Jasprit Bumrah and Gerald Coetzee were kept away from the attack, which was surprising,” Irfan Pathan said on Star Sports.

Harbhajan Singh echoed Pathan’s sentiments, suggesting that Pandya missed a crucial opportunity by not utilizing his main bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah and Gerald Coetzee, earlier.

This allowed the partnership between Manish Pandey and Venkatesh Iyer to flourish, contributing 83 runs and ultimately proving decisive in the outcome of the match.