'Mumbai Indians are confused': Pathan, Watson and Smith question Pandya's captaincy after loss against KKR

Former cricketers Irfan Pathan, Shane Watson and Graeme Smith have questioned Mumbai Indians’ team management after the franchise suffered its eighth defeat of the season against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday. Batting first, Kolkata were bowled out for 169 runs but held off Mumbai by bundling them out for 145 runs to take sole control of the No. 2 spot in the standings.

Pathan blasted Hardik Pandya’s captaincy after yet another defeat for MI. The former India all-rounder pointed out that after reducing KKR to 57/5 in the seventh over, there was no need for Mumbai to give their sixth-choice bowler Naman Dhir three consecutive overs as it allowed Venkatesh Iyer and Manish Pandey to forge an 83-run partnership and take KKR to a winning total.

“Mumbai Indians’ story is finished in the IPL 2024. They were a very good team on paper but they have not been managed well. Questions on Hardik Pandya’s captaincy are absolutely valid. Today when KKR were 57/5, you bowled 3 bowlers of Naman Dhir. You bowled your 6th bowler, let KKR form a crucial partnership between Manish Pandey and Venkatesh Iyer. The 83-run partnership took KKR to 170 when they should have only got to 150 and that turned out to be the point of difference,” Irfan Pathan said on Instagram.

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He also added that MI are not playing as a team under Pandya.

“Cricket is a game where captaincy and management is crucial and MI at the moment are not playing as a team and that’s the biggest talking point of the season for MI. It is important for the players to accept their captain and I don’t think it has happened for MI this season,” Pathan added.

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Shane Watson, while speaking on JioCinema, also questioned the decisions taken by MI on the field. “To keep bowling Naman Dhir when it was so critical (KKR were at 57-5), it was a big mistake from the leadership of the Mumbai Indians, whether it was Hardik Pandya making the decisions or information coming from the sideline…Bumrah had bowled only one over at that stage, so (they needed to) get him in the game again to try and break the partnership of Venkatesh Iyer and Manish Pandey, but they didn’t. They just let them cruise and build momentum in the partnership. Before you know it, they hadn’t played a shot in anger and that built the partnership to a point where it was too late when he came in. There were a lot of baffling decisions from the Mumbai Indians’ leadership, which is going to be hard to explain,” he said.

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Graeme Smith said that Pandya is struggling and MI are looking like a “confused team”.

“Hardik has really struggled, he’s looked like a man under pressure. That’s created a little turmoil in the air, who knows how that’s affected the people. But even the batting lineup, they look like they’re confused. Tilak Varma and Naman Dhir were fighting in the middle order, Dhir was batting at three, and Hardik moving all over the place. They should have had Tilak at 3, Sky at 4, and Hardik batting at 5 throughout the season, with David at 6. Then, figure out your bowling units. All over and all around, they’ve been a very confused team this season and it’s been hugely disappointing from one of the mega franchises of the IPL. A lot of people in the MI fanbase and camp will be very sore tonight.”