Hardik Pandya is a plastic captain… MI captain has lost game awareness, former selector got angry, said – that thing was missing in him

New Delhi. The current IPL has been no less than a nightmare for Mumbai Indians captained by Hardik Pandya. In the match played at Chepauk Stadium, Chennai, Mumbai Indians had to suffer a crushing defeat by 8 wickets at the hands of Chennai Super Kings. There was silence on the field after this defeat, but outside the field, the statements of former Indian selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth have created a storm. Srikanth made a strong attack on Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya, calling him a ‘plastic captain’ and raised serious questions on his captaincy and batting intentions.

Talking about the match, Mumbai Indians’ batting seemed to be under control at one time. When Hardik Pandya came to the crease, Mumbai Indians’ score was four wickets for 109 runs in 12.5 overs. Set batsman Naman Dheer was present with him. But as soon as Hardik arrived, it seemed as if the team’s run speed got braked. Facing 23 balls, Hardik scored only 18 runs, which included only two fours. The most surprising thing during this innings of Hardik was 10 dot balls. On a wicket where the set batsman was expected to score runs quickly, Hardik’s struggle was clearly visible. The team’s run rate kept falling continuously between the 12th over and the 16th over. The score was reduced to 159/7, which was not enough to win on this pitch.

Srikanth’s ‘plastic’ attack
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Krishnamachari Srikkanth sharply criticized Hardik Pandya. He said, ‘Look at the figures, 18 runs in 23 balls…what is this? He is a plastic captain. According to Srikanth, there is a huge lack of game awareness under Hardik’s captaincy. He further said, ‘Look at that partnership, what was the intention? What was Hardik Pandya trying to do? If you look at the number of dot balls in the middle overs, it is clear that there was no proper calculation or understanding of the game. The run-rate dropped very rapidly during that phase. Analyzing the data, Srikanth told how the run rate was around 9 till the sixth-seventh over, but after that it fell to 7, 6, 5, 4 and 3. He sarcastically said that when the captain himself is at the crease and the team is struggling, there should have been a comeback strategy from there, which was completely missing.

CSK’s game plan is ‘bodyline’ attack
Srikanth also highlighted that the opposition teams have now understood the weakness of Hardik Pandya. CSK bowlers did not give any easy balls to Hardik in this match. In particular, Jamie Overton targeted Hardik’s body (bodyline bowling). Srikanth said, ‘Teams now know how to lock Hardik. They won’t put him in the slot anymore. They know that if they bowl on length, Hardik will hit them, so they will not bowl there. Teams are now constantly targeting his body and Hardik is struggling against it.

What next?
Hardik Pandya’s strike rate of 136.45 has already been a topic of discussion this season. Mumbai’s lack of firepower in the middle order is clearly visible, and the captain’s own struggle with form has become a double problem for the team. Now the challenge for Mumbai Indians has increased further. MI has to play its next match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on May 4 at Wankhede Stadium. Wankhede’s pitch is considered helpful for batting, but the real challenge for Hardik will be to improve his technical shortcomings and answer the questions being raised on his captaincy with the bat. Will Hardik be able to break the ‘plastic’ image and return as a real leader? Cricket lovers and MI fans are now looking for the answer to this question.